A high-stakes battle is now unfolding in Chicago, Illinois, as well as in Portland, Oregon, pitting the Trump/MAGA fascist regime and its backers against most of the people of these cities, as well as against anti-fascist sections of state and city governments and of the federal courts. 

Inventing and Provoking “Crises” to Justify Military Occupation

For weeks, the Trump regime has been trying to deploy hundreds of federalized National Guard to both these cities. This deployment goes against the will of most of the people of these cities and states. The governors of Illinois and Oregon, as well as the mayors of Chicago and Portland, have strongly objected. The governors prevented Trump from using the National Guard of either state, so the regime enlisted the National Guard from other states—most notably from the deep-fascist state of Texas. 

Here it has to be said that marshaling the armed forces of a major Southern state against two liberal Northern cities against the wishes of their governors evoke loud echoes of the U.S. Civil War. Further: there is a federal law—the Posse Comitatus Act—that bars use of federal troops (including National Guard) in “law enforcement” activities except in situations of “extreme emergency.” The only emergency—especially in Chicago—has been the lawless and thuggish behavior of ICE.

So Trump, Kristi Noem (head of the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS) and fascist media and mouthpieces have been frantically trying to manufacture crises that don’t exist, or to provoke one, that will in some way legitimize these military occupations:

• In Chicago, ICE shot a woman, and then claimed she had tried to ram an ICE agent—supposed “proof” that they are under siege and need military protection. In fact, the agent’s body cam footage shows that the woman (who was part of a protest “caravan” tailing them as they carried out their criminal attacks on immigrants) did not threaten the agent. In fact, the footage shows him screaming at her, “Do something bitch,” and then pulling over and shooting her five times!

• ICE has also staged late-night raids on apartment buildings, terrorizing hundreds of people. They have tear-gassed people in shopping areas and near elementary schools, and they have pointed weapons at the faces of people filming them. Several weeks ago, a Presbyterian minister at a protest at the increasingly infamous Broadview, Illinois, ICE “processing center” implored ICE agents to (in his words) “turn from their wicked ways.” He goes on: “That is when they opened fire”—shooting him in the head with a pepper ball that inflicted serious injury. (More generally, significant sections of the clergy in Chicago have overall played an important role in supporting protests.) Videos of this vicious brutality have gone viral, further exposing the illegitimacy of this fascist regime and spreading anger and outrage.
• Portland has not had anywhere close to the same level of rampage by ICE that Chicago has, and consequently not the same level of struggle against it. Nevertheless, Trump claims that Portland is “war ravaged” and that ICE was “under siege” by “Antifa terrorists”—and Fox “validates” this by running constant loop footage of anti-police murder demonstrations that happened in 2020! He ordered the deployment of National Guard there, to use “Full Force, if necessary.” It is worth noting that Trump bitterly hates Portland for the level of opposition to him, in particular in the 2020 Beautiful Uprising against police murder and repression, and hates the anti-fascist tradition among the youth there, including many white youth.

These kinds of outrages, especially what is now being done to people in Chicago, besides trying to intimidate and suppress resistance, also aim to provoke a violent response that can then be used to “justify” the military occupation.

The Real Motives Behind the Occupations

Trump points to “fighting crime,” combatting “radical-left terrorism,” and protecting ICE so it can carry out its “heroic” mission of deporting millions of ordinary people for the “crime” of having Brown or Black skin, an accent, or being born outside the U.S.

Here’s the translation:

One: Trump aims to terrorize the masses, starting with Latino immigrants, and spreading outward to Black people in Chicago, and progressive youth of all colors and ethnicities who hate Trump/MAGA fascism. So this includes enforcing the ICE campaign of ethnic cleansing, but it is much bigger than that—it is about forcing the whole different form of rule—fascism—into place. This means open and undisguised dictatorship enforcing blatant white supremacy, patriarchy, and anti-immigrant hatred. This means wiping out the rule of law and trampling on all basic rights.

Two: Trump aims to crush resistance from those among the ruling institutions of this system who, in the words of Bob Avakian, “are very deeply troubled by, or even strongly opposed to, how they see the actions of the Trump fascist regime ‘violating the Constitution and the law, destroying our great American experiment in democracy’ and ‘seriously undermining and damaging our country’s standing in the world.’” (From a major statement by Bob Avakian @BobAvakianOfficial, REVOLUTION #141: "The Time Is Urgently Upon Us Now—To Drive Out The Trump Fascist Regime!")

JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, and Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, have thus far stood against Trump, and come under increasing attack. Their actions have played an important role. For instance, the Chicago public school system set up a command center to monitor ICE activity in the district. Then on October 6, Johnson signed the “ICE Free Zone” executive order, which creates clear mechanisms to prohibit federal immigration agents from using any City-owned property in their ongoing operations in Chicago.

Three: Trump aims to position the armed forces to be able to move very quickly to crush any organized resistance from any quarter. Trump and Hegseth have purged generals who are Black or women, disciplined officers seen as insufficiently loyal, and demanded that top commanders embrace “the war on the enemy within.” They are working to fully reshape the military into a political and repressive instrument of unquestionable fascist power. (See “Trump and Hegseth Lecture 800 U.S. Generals and Admirals to Demand They Wage War Against the ‘Enemy Within.’”) 

Battling in the Courts

As part of the resistance to this, the governors in both Oregon and Illinois filed suit in federal court to block the deployment of troops. These were both successful at the first level of the federal system—district courts. 

In both cases, the judges granted temporary restraining orders (TROs) against the deployments. In Oregon, Trump-appointed judge Karin Immergut refuted the absurd exaggerations of “threats” and emergency that the government tried to conjure up. She dismissed the fascist regime’s attempt to equate protest demonstrations with “rebellion” and said that overall their argument was “untethered to facts.” Judge April Perry in Illinois described the arguments of the Department of Homeland Security as “simply unreliable.” And she said that allowing troops to come into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started” by attacking peaceful protesters.

Trump responded with venom. He said that the “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers” and “Governor Pritzker also!” Trump’s senior advisor, Stephen Miller, said that the Oregon court decision was “legal insurrection” and that “the president is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge.” 

Trump Escalates and Threatens the “Insurrection Act”

Responding to the two legal defeats, Trump said that he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act to send the military into cities if courts block these deployments: “[W]e have an Insurrection Act for a reason. If I had to enact it, I'd do that.” And the same day, Miller took it a step further on CNN, saying that with respect to the federalizing of the California National Guard, “Under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the President has plenary authority…” Title 10 is the part of the U.S. legal code governing control of the military. “Plenary authority” means essentially total and unchallengeable control! 

In other words, the fascist regime is determined to overturn these court orders and is openly calling for using the armed force of the state (including the U.S. military) to do it. They are not bluffing. 

An Urgent Need for a Leap in the Resistance

The resistance in Chicago, as well as in Portland, is critical and must be supported. At the same time, it is urgent that resistance to this fascist juggernaut take a leap from the defensive to the political offensive. The regime is moving to a full lockdown. The time is short, but there is still a window to act and win. The brave resisters of Chicago and Portland must not only persevere, but resolve to take this to the level of actually moving—in a massive and nonviolent way, beginning November 5 in DC—to demand the fall of the regime, bringing millions into determined day-after-day resistance in the seat of power. Bring your spirit and your experience to DC!

We’ll conclude here with the beginning words of the call from RefuseFascism.org: The time has come for…THE FALL of the TRUMP FASCIST REGIME—Beginning November 5, 2025, Washinton DC: 

Fascism is not a looming threat. It is upon us now. 

Humanity's only hope is for the decent people of this country to rise in our millions. We cannot wait for future and rigged elections. We must drive the Trump Fascist Regime from power.

Beginning November 5, the one-year anniversary of Trump’s election, flood DC in nonviolent protest. Surround the White House. Surround the Capitol. Surround the illegitimate fascist-packed Supreme Court. Come back again and again. Across the country, refuse to comply. Every person of conscience, millions of us together, grind the machinery of the fascist regime to a halt.

Don’t stop until Trump is removed.