the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 1, 2025
First it was Los Angeles. Then it was Washington, D.C. Now Trump seems to have his sights set on Chicago, and he is threatening to send National Guard troops there.
With Los Angeles and D.C., there were at least pretexts. They were false pretexts, but pretexts nonetheless. In Los Angeles, Trump responded to what he said were “violent riots” which were in fact protests against ICE raids within L.A. communities. He sent National Guard troops ostensibly to protect those ICE raiders, and to guard federal buildings within the city.
In Washington, D.C., it was more direct because the federal government has overall control over the city, even if it has an elected mayor and independent police force. The law giving D.C. ‘home rule’ still allows the president to take control in the event of an emergency. Well, Trump declared an emergency, took control of the police force and sent in National Guard troops, all supposedly to take control of crime—even though crime in D.C. was already at a 30-year low.
Chicago? Not so much.
Trump seem to be throwing out every reason he can think of, from crime (also down significantly in Chicago) to immigration crackdowns. He’s threatening to send National Guard troops even though there is no threat to federal property, just on the pretense that they are needed to control crime—which should be a blatantly illegal move, since the governor and the mayor have flat out said they don’t want troops there.
But maybe Trump is planning on creating that pretext with ICE. The White House has requested that the Naval Station Great Lakes, just 30 miles north of Chicago, open space for ICE operatives and give “limited support in the form a facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations.” It has been reported that up to 200 Homeland Security officers may be headed there.
So clearly, the plan is to move ICE into Chicago, as they moved into Los Angeles. If they encounter resistance, as in L.A., Trump will grab that as the pretext to send in National Guard troops.
Trump’s administration has made no bones about who their real target is, in all of these deployments and threats. They say they are targeting “Sanctuary Cities,” run by Democrats, and providing some protections for immigrant residents.
Ultimately, and above all, they are targeting those immigrant workers.
It was the main purpose for the ICE raids and National Guard deployments in Los Angeles. It has turned out to be the main result of all those National Guard deployments in Washington, D.C.: not lowering crime, but detaining and deporting immigrants in the city. In Chicago, it will be the same.
Trump—and the ruling class behind him—are targeting immigrant workers, as a way to divide and defeat the working class.
And who are the workers they are targeting? Trump’s cronies make lots of noise about going after the “worst of the worst,” murderers, rapists and child killers. But that’s not at all who they have picked up, in L.A., D.C, or anywhere else. They have been rounding up hard-working members of their communities. They have been implanted in their communities for years, even decades. They pay taxes. They pay Social Security taxes that they may never even benefit from. They show up every day on the job and are relied upon to do their jobs. Just like any other member of the working class.
THAT is who Trump is going after, and that is who this administration wants to tell us is our enemy.
If any worker—in Chicago, or anywhere in the country—accepts that, if they allow themselves to be pulled against immigrant workers, another part of THEIR class, they will only hurt themselves.
As Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Trump and the corporations behind him know full well the power that a unified working class can wield. They fear that power. And they are trying their damnedest to crumble that power even before it shows itself. That is exactly why they are working so hard to poison this well, to divide the working class.
But with a unified force, fighting for ALL parts of the working class, the working class can defend themselves against these attacks and even win a much brighter future for all.