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CHICAGO, IL, AND WASHINGTON, DC — The League of Women Voters of Illinois and the League of Women Voters of the United States issued the following joint statement in response to reports that the federal government is preparing to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago and other communities across Illinois:
“The League stands with our members, residents of Illinois, and the elected government of our sovereign state in renewing our condemnation of troop deployment in Illinois because there is no justification for such action. Chicago is not experiencing an emergency that requires federal force. To be clear, there is no war zone in Chicago or anywhere else in Illinois unless federal troops are bent on creating one.
“Illinoisans will not be bullied into submission by acquiescing to warrantless attacks on our citizens nor to inhumane treatment of our neighbors and family members. We have no interest in federal troops descending on our neighborhoods to impose terror in our streets simply as a show of power. Instead, we urge the Department of Homeland Security to conduct its operations within the law and with a level of professionalism and restraint that our residents deserve. We urge the department to treat the residents of Illinois like fellow citizens and not like an enemy. The department’s failure to do so is incitement. And that incitement has created the perception that additional federal troops are needed.
“The League strongly condemns the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago and every other American city without cause.”
