League Condemns National Guard Deployment to Illinois Communities

10/15/25

The League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters of Illinois issued the following statement on October 6 in response to the federal government's attempt 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.”

To further support our communities and oppose the presence of troops in our state, LWVIL has partnered with Common Cause Illinois to place billboards on major roadways around Chicagoland. Be on the lookout for them!

 
 

Here's where you can find the billboards:

  • Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), West of 25th Avenue, Eastbound

  • Kennedy Expressway (I-90), East of Tri-State Tollway (I-294), Westbound

  • Highway 41, South of Buckley Road (Hwy 137), Southbound

  • Stevenson (I-55), West of Damen Ave, Westbound

  • Mannheim Road, North of Hirsch Avenue, Southbound

  • I-57, South of Vermont Street, Northbound

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