Despite President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, many residents on the city’s South Side are focused on a different conflict: the persistent battle against local violence.
The President’s focus on Chicago was sharpened by recent violence, including a drive-by shooting in the Bronzeville neighborhood that wounded seven people just a block from police headquarters. Over the Labor Day weekend, the city saw at least 58 people shot, eight of whom died.
While Trump cited these figures as justification for sending in the National Guard to tackle what he called “out of control” crime, local community leaders argue they are already addressing the issue. Rob White, a coach who works with young men at risk of joining gangs, acknowledged the community’s frustration with crime occurring so close to a fortified police building.
However, his colleague, Kanoya Ali, asserted that federal intervention is unnecessary. “The outcome [a drop in crime] is already happening,” Ali said. “The troops are already here. We are the troops.”
The city’s Democrat-led government and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have vowed to resist any deployment by what the governor called an “unhinged” president.
Official city data supports the argument that local efforts are working. Violent crime in Chicago has decreased significantly over the past two years. According to the Council on Criminal Justice, the homicide rate from January to June was down by a third compared to the same period last year. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling noted that homicides fell by 125 last year, with over 700 fewer shooting victims.
Snelling expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of a military deployment, noting the National Guard’s limitations. “The National Guard does not have police powers. They don’t have the powers of arrest,” he stated, adding that while he would welcome more officers, any collaboration would require “serious coordination.”
The debate over federal intervention is starkly visible across Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. In a classroom for Chicago CRED, a non-profit dedicated to reducing gun violence, coach Rob White highlighted the participants’ lived experiences with violence and incarceration, arguing that a military presence “is not going to be the answer to this problem.”
But in Canaryville, a neighborhood where American flags and pro-police “Blue Lives Matter” banners are common, the sentiment is different. “I can’t wait till they get here,” said resident Tom Stack, 68. “You got to get rid of the criminals. This city’s crazy, there’s too much crime, it’s common sense.”
Local leaders point to funding cuts by the Trump administration for crime prevention programs as a key challenge. Democrats in the city argue that federal funding is crucial for stemming weapons trafficking from states with looser gun laws.
Beyond the debate on crime, President Trump’s potential deployment of federal agents has stoked fears of large-scale immigration raids. In Little Village, a major Latino community, anxiety is high that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could soon conduct sweeps similar to recent operations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
At a local packaging factory, workers are in their thirteenth week of a strike, demanding, among other things, a written guarantee of protection from unwarranted workplace raids. “We’ve seen a lot of things,” said Arturo Landa, a mechanic on the picket line. “They are stopping people… they are discriminating on people’s skin.”
The anxiety has had tangible consequences. Organizers of El Grito Chicago, the city’s official Mexican Independence Day festival, have postponed the event. “It was a painful decision,” they wrote in a social media post, “but holding El Grito Chicago at this time puts the safety of our community at stake – and that’s a risk we are unwilling to take.”
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