AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Chicago. On Tuesday, President Trump said, quote, “We’re going in,” when asked about federal troop deployments to Chicago and Baltimore. He repeatedly called both cities a “hellhole.”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There’s no place in the world, including you can go to Afghanistan. You can go to places that you would think of. They don’t even come close to this. Chicago is a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now. Parts of Los Angeles are terrible.

REPORTER: Have you made your mind up on Chicago, though?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, we’re going in. I didn’t say when. We’re going in.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes as a federal judge ruled the Trump administration broke the law when deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests against immigration raids. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, the brother of retired Justice Breyer, raised concerns the deployments are, quote, “creating a national police force with the President as its chief,” unquote.

Yesterday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was joined by Chicago officials when he reiterated his opposition to federal troops in Chicago.

GOV. JB PRITZKER: In the coming days, we expect to see what has played out in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., to happen here in Chicago. First, Donald Trump is positioning armed federal agents and staging military vehicles on federal property, such as the Great Lakes Naval Base. …

Second, unidentifiable agents in unmarked vehicles with masks are planning to raid Latino communities and say they’re targeting violent criminals. As we saw in Los Angeles, a very, very small percentage of the individuals they will target will be violent criminals. Instead, you’re likely to see videos of them hauling away mothers and fathers traveling to work or picking up their kids from school. Sometimes they will detain, handcuff and haul away children. …

Third, as lawful citizens exercise their First Amendment rights, Trump and his team will be looking for any excuse to put active-duty military on our streets, supposedly to protect ICE. We have reason to believe that the Trump administration has already begun staging the Texas National Guard for deployment in Illinois.

AMY GOODMAN: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said federal agents have already begun staging at a military base near Chicago. He was joined by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: Instead of using militarized ICE agents to terrify our communities here in Chicago, instead of sending in Border Patrol to our city to detain mothers and fathers who have called Chicago their home for decades, working-class people who pay their taxes and make our community stronger, they should direct those resources to taking down gun traffickers so that we can finally put a stop to the violence. If the Chicago Police Department had a fighting chance, we could end gun violence in Chicago. But as long as this president allows hundreds of thousands of guns to come into our city, we will always be fighting an uphill battle.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined in Washington, D.C., by Democratic Illinois Congressmember Jesús “Chuy” García, who represents Chicago.

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Congressmember. So, can you first respond to what is happening? How advanced is — are the troop deployments to your city? And what’s your message to President Trump?

REP. JESÚS ”CHUY” GARCÍA: Good morning, Amy and Juan. Glad to join you.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a whole lot of information about the deployment of both federal agents or how many of them will be deployed, and then, of course, the even greater fear that the National Guard would be deployed. We get little bits and pieces of information, including a tip that Texas National Guard elements might be used in the mobilization.

But clearly, this is not about public safety, and it’s not about law and order. It’s a show of force meant to intimidate, to create fear and send troops to occupy cities because people in those cities largely and overwhelmingly oppose Donald Trump and his policies. That’s really what’s behind this, as well, of course, as creating distractions from the Epstein files — there’s great fear in the White House that there could be implications for the administration; I think the California redistricting response to the illegal, blatant gerrymandering in Texas, and the fact that we hosted much of the Texas delegation; and, of course, the D.C. mobilization — militarization that also rejects Trump. And as we saw this weekend, on Labor Day, on Monday, there have been protests against the Trump policies all over the nation, and those will continue. That’s what this is all about, distracting from the fact that the cost of living continues to rise and that people are hurting, and that no legislation has been introduced, no policies have been rolled out seeking to control the cost of living and provide relief to the American people.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Congressman, I wanted to ask you — on Labor Day, I was at the march that was held, where you spoke, in Chicago, and many of the immigrant rights activists there were telling me that the people that they’re in contact with in their communities, many of them are staying home from work or keeping their kids out of school because of all of these — the word that is spreading about this upcoming raids. This Saturday is going to be the Mexican Independence Day Parade in Chicago. Your concerns about how the parade might be used by federal agents and even by provocateurs?

REP. JESÚS ”CHUY” GARCÍA: Great question, Juan. Yes, one of my concerns is that for several years now it’s become quite a tradition where especially young people take to the streets in their cars and their pickups and their vans, and they’re waving Mexican flags. They’re expressing their Mexican pride and having a good time. And it occurs all over the city of Chicago, including in the downtown part of Chicago. My concern is that such a setting provides a very ripe opportunity for those who want to sow discord, those who want to create clashes, to do so. And, of course, there is also a grave concern on my part that this announcement of federal agents and the mobilization of the Guard comes on the eve of that celebration, which is an annual affair.

And, for example, 26th Street, in the Little Village community where I live, hosts perhaps the largest Mexican Independence Day Parade in the country, where up to 250,000 people have assembled to enjoy this wonderful celebration. And, of course, there is concern and fear that these events commemorating Mexican independence will be used to repress, to intimidate and to try to create clashes, so that there’s imagery of people fighting with the federal agents, with local police, certainly with National Guard, if they were to be deployed. So, these are among the concerns that we have, and it certainly seems that they are timed to coincide with this celebration.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you also — Trump continues to rail against sanctuary cities and threatened to withhold federal funding, but Chicago was the nation’s first sanctuary city. Could you talk about that history? Because you were there when it happened.

REP. JESÚS ”CHUY” GARCÍA: I guess this year is the 40th year since Chicago’s mayor at that time, Harold Washington, issued an executive order because Latinos were being profiled. They were being harassed by immigration agents — today, they’re known as ICE agents — including Puerto Ricans, who were stopped and interrogated and asked for their papers. The mayor was really upset about this and issued the executive order, which recognizes immigrants’ contributions to Chicago, great, long, rich history of many immigrant groups that have come to Chicago and made it their home.

Similarly, the growth of Chicago’s Latino community, especially its huge Mexican American and immigrant communities, are very concerned about what is going on. And the city, of course, has reiterated its sanctuary status, its welcoming, immigrant-friendly status, both by codifying the executive order into an ordinance and strengthening it. And, of course, this has been replicated in the Illinois Legislature by both chambers, with Republican support. And, of course, the mayor — the governor has been a big champion of protecting and defending immigrants’ rights and, most importantly, their constitutional rights in this new second Trump administration. That’s the history.

Chicago has been a refuge for immigrants, for women’s reproductive rights, for the LGBTQ community. And let’s not forget that Trump is holding a grudge, because when he began his campaign for the White House in 2015, Chicago pushed back against his hatred and his divisive rhetoric. Let’s not forget that at that time he was attacking Mexican immigrants for being criminals and rapists and the worst of the worst, and that’s been used to try to justify the deployment of the National Guard and the federalization of National Guards in several states. We’ve seen it now, of course, in L.A., in California. We’ve seen it in D.C. And Chicago, of course, seems to be the next target of Trump and Stephen Miller again, to stir up fear, to attack immigrants and to pursue deportation quotas, and, most importantly, to try to pit people against each other.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressman, on Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Trump’s threatening to send troops to Chicago to distract the public from other issues.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: This president doesn’t care about gun violence. He just wants his own secret police force that would do publicity stunts whenever his poll numbers are sinking, whenever his jobs report shows a stagnating economy, whenever he needs another distraction from his failures. That’s what this is about.

AMY GOODMAN: So, two quick questions. He’s talking about Chicago being the distraction for Trump. You’re a congressmember. You know the huge push that’s now becoming bipartisan to release all the Epstein files, and survivors are speaking in Congress. This is a serious threat to President Trump, because his MAGA base is also demanding the release of the files. Do you think this push against Chicago and Baltimore, and the more dramatic language Trump is using, is to distract attention from hearing these survivors of Epstein and call for the release of the files, where we understand he’s mentioned a number of times?

REP. JESÚS ”CHUY” GARCÍA: Absolutely. It’s a distraction, a total distraction, because from Washington, D.C., to Chicago to Baltimore, crime rates, especially the most serious crimes, have gone down and continue to trend downward. Misinformation is being used to justify an authoritarian takeover, without a doubt. That is why this is being ramped up at this time.

Today, we’re going to be hearing from a number of survivors of abuse in the Epstein episode, one of the darkest episodes in our country, especially as it exploits and traffics in young women. And there seems to be a great paranoia in the White House about full disclosure of these documents. And that’s why we will continue to push for the resolution, the discharge petition, to put it to a vote in the House of Representatives to see what people will do.

But without a doubt, this is a total distraction from the real issues of the day. That includes the Epstein files, the cost of living and, of course, Donald Trump’s fate in the courts, which are in real danger, because courts are threatening to undo his tariffs. They have found that he has illegally mobilized the National Guard. And they’re losing in many critical cases in the federal courts, even though it’s a very slow process, but they’re not winning like they expected do, and that’s why they’re trying to distract the nation.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Chuy García, we want to thank you very much for being with us. Congressmember García represents Chicago, where our co-host, Juan González, is, as well.

When we come back, a slew of new judicial rulings on Trump’s use or misuse of the National Guard and the immigration crackdown. We’ll speak with an attorney with the American Immigration Council, as well as New York Times contributor Jean Guerrero about her new essay, “The Border Is Invading America.” Back in 20 seconds.

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AMY GOODMAN: “Times of Love” by Las Cafeteras, here in our Democracy Now! studio.