By: David Lazzara
President Donald Trump continues to rollout his rapidly paced immigration policies by authorizing the National Guard to be deployed in Chicago.
This, in turn, has caused Dominican students to express concern over whether the National Guard is needed here, and whether their presence will cause more problems instead of helping.
Sophomore Adrian Escalante, addressing the unsettling sight of National Guard members in Chicago, said, “I do not believe the National Guard should be used to do anything other than to protect the American people from foreign governments. With that, their presence in Chicago is highly unnecessary, as no danger from foreign countries is actually present in Chicago.”
However, this is not the first time the National Guard has been deployed domestically.
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to be used in Little Rock to aid the Little Rock Nine, and the National Guard is routinely seen helping with natural disasters such as Hurricane Helene in Florida.
The National Guard is trained on many different tasks, but patrolling major cities like the Trump Administration has used the national guard for is not one of them. David Dolence, professor of political science at DU, said, “The concern I have is the concern I think every military personnel has… If you are not trained to do something, you could do it wrong. When you are a military personnel, even in the National Guard, you could hurt somebody. Somebody could get hurt because you are doing something wrong.”
Safety has also been a worry of students, and what Dominican can do to allay those worries. Earlier this month, Glena Temple, the President of Dominican University, sent out a campus-wide email relaying information about resources available for students, such as the Wellness Center and the University Ministry. Although there is still a lot to be desired from Dominican in the way of support. Sophomore Jessica Villarreal said, “I think Dominican has good intentions and tries to support students, but they could do more when moments like this happen. I wish there were more open spaces for students from immigrant families to talk about how these things affect us, not just academically, but emotionally.”
There is also the question of whether it is possible to see the National Guard in the Chicago Suburbs and what their role would even be. “If they are supporting the police, [they can be utilized]. But remember, they cannot engage in actual policing activity. Normally, what you use the national guard for is just to walk with police or to guard federal buildings, which is a legitimate purpose they can serve,” said Dolence.
Federal courts have blocked the National Guard from being deployed in the streets of Chicago but have allowed the troops to still be controlled by the federal government. Trump has federalized the National Guard to stop what he claims is a rebellion in Chicago. But how do you prove or disprove that a rebellion is taking place? “Some federal justices will look at it and go, we can not even really answer that question. We have to leave it alone, in which case Congress is the only entity that can stop this.”
Currently, a majority of the members in Congress have no desire to stop Trump’s use of the National Guard. With midterms next year, Trump’s usage of the National Guard could be a prevalent issue. “I hope a lot of people remember this moment when they vote. It should be a wake-up call for everyone who thought they wouldn’t be negatively impacted by their vote or decided to not vote at all,” said Villarreal.
