October 04, 2025

Duckworth Statement on Dangerous, Unconstitutional Activation of Illinois National Guard

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement in response to today’s federalization of 300 Illinois National Guard Troops in our state against the will of local officials to intimidate Illinoisans:

“Donald Trump federalizing the Illinois National Guard is a dangerous, un-American, and unconstitutional abuse of our military, intended to instill fear and threaten American civil rights. Our military men and women signed up to defend the constitution and our rights, not be used as political props or to silence dissent. Illinois does not want or need troops in our cities. Full stop.

“In the past week we’ve seen federal agents point weapons at and detain innocent Americans, deny citizens legal representation, zip-tie children, threaten and even arrest elected officials, ransack apartment buildings and injure journalists. Trump’s agents must stop terrorizing our communities, and sending troops will do nothing to help the situation.

“This is not about law and order and never has been—Donald Trump has been looking for any pretext to call the National Guard into our state to intimidate Americans in their own communities for weeks. The wannabe dictator is using our servicemembers to target and punish cities and states who push against his whims. It’s yet another unwarranted, unwanted and unjust move straight out of the authoritarian’s playbook that will only jeopardize Americans’ civil rights, undermine our military’s readiness and ultimately weaken our national security.

“Policing Americans is fundamentally not the military’s job. Deploying the military to American streets takes them away from their critical missions combating foreign enemies and erodes the trusted relationship between the public and the servicemembers who are meant to protect them. This unconstitutional overreach of power by President Trump cannot stand. I will keep working with our state and local officials and do everything I can to stop these un-American actions, uphold the rule of law and protect all Americans’ constitutional rights.”

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