Chicagoans say they are split over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to the city, with some fearing racism and others welcoming a crackdown on crime.
Protests erupted across Chicago and its suburbs as federal immigration agents and demonstrators clashed, prompting a heavy police presence and the temporary deployment of tear gas.
Residents expressed contrasting views on the National Guard and ICE operations.
Kevin Guano, a 20-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, called the deployment “racist,” saying Chicago has a long history as an immigrant city and criticised propaganda framing immigrants as harmful.
“So what I think is that it's terrible. I've been here like five months. I'm new in this city. I love the country. I love this city, I love that Chicago style. But I think that Trump is not (making) a good decision, because I've been learning the history of the country. And I know that Chicago is like an immigrant city, it’s been like that. So, it's something contradictory to say or make propaganda about ‘the immigrants are bad’ or ‘they are destroying our country’. So, it is a little ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, longtime resident Joannie Pittman, 63, said she welcomed the presence of federal troops, citing high levels of local violence in neighbourhoods and downtown areas.
“I think of ICE as the President Trump way of cleaning up and, you know, giving the citizens, the people that's here that want to be here a chance to get in because they got so much connection, they're throwing us away. You know, they take us forever just to get one thing, and they just get everything. That's what I feel, but some of them are nice because they live in our area."
Illinois filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to block the Trump administration from sending hundreds of federalised National Guard troops into Chicago. The state argues the president has exceeded his authority under federal law, including the Posse Comitatus Act, and infringed upon state control over the National Guard and local law enforcement.
The legal challenge follows similar lawsuits in other Democratic-led states over Trump’s deployment of military forces to cities like Portland, Oregon, and highlights growing tensions over the use of federal troops to enforce immigration policy and suppress protests.
The White House maintains the deployment is necessary to protect federal employees amid ongoing demonstrations.
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Hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers gathered on Tuesday at an Army facility outside Chicago, as Donald Trump's threat to invoke an anti-insurrection law and deploy troops to more U.S. cities intensified the battle over the limits to his authority.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a man Friday in Franklin Park, Illinois, after the suspect drove his car at law enforcement and dragged an officer, federal authorities said.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Chicago will soon face increased deportations, following his controversial renaming of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to be armed, as the Trump administration continues its controversial crime crackdown in the capital.
Firefighters were clearing the charred ruins of a Karachi shopping mall in Pakistan on Tuesday (20 January) as they searched for people still missing after a fire that burned for nearly two days and killed at least 67 people, police said.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States has an "armada" heading toward Iran but hoped he would not have to use it, as he renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Türkiye opposes any form of foreign intervention in Iran, as protests and economic pressures continue to fuel tensions in the Islamic republic.
Trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. entered a second day in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, following an initial round of talks described by officials as productive.
Iran will treat any military attack as an “all-out war,” a senior Iranian official said on Friday, as the United States moves additional naval and air assets into the Middle East amid rising tensions.
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have resumed U.S.-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (24January), as Russian drone and missile strikes overnight killed at least one person and left millions without electricity and heating during freezing winter temperatures.
A suicide bombing at a wedding in north-western Pakistan has killed seven people, police said, in the latest attack to hit the country’s restive border regions with Afghanistan.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 24th of January, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Firefighters were clearing the charred ruins of a Karachi shopping mall in Pakistan on Tuesday (20 January) as they searched for people still missing after a fire that burned for nearly two days and killed at least 67 people, police said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Canada is opposing the possible construction of his proposed ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system over Greenland, despite what he claimed would be security benefits for Canada.
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