A group of Democratic mayors penned an op-ed requesting that President Donald Trump not send National Guard troops to their cities.
Trump has threatened to send the National Guard to several cities, including Baltimore, Chicago, and New Orleans, among other Democratic-led cities, to address crime. His threats came weeks after he moved to federalize the local police force in Washington, D.C., and placed troops there.
“If the goal is to support cities in reducing crime and keeping communities safe, a more effective strategy would be to strengthen what’s already working at the local level, rather than overriding it. National Guard deployment should be reserved for genuine emergencies, not moments when local efforts are actually showing real results,” Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson II, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, and Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin, all members of the African American Mayors Association, wrote in an op-ed published Thursday in The Hill.
The mayors acknowledged that crime data “isn’t everything,” noting that “carjackings, robberies, and gun violence still affect far too many families.”
“No mayor is satisfied until every neighborhood is safe, and we are clear-eyed about the continued effort required,” the group wrote.
The mayors highlighted ways in which they believe the federal government could be useful in “strengthen[ing] our communities without undermining trust or local leadership.”
They pointed to choking “off the gun pipeline with stronger tracing, faster ballistic analysis, and crackdowns on traffickers supplying the bulk of crime guns,” banning ghost guns and Glock switches as a local effort that they could use federal aid for. The group also said funding for programs, “including recruitment for community-focused police, youth programs, and jobs for young people most vulnerable,” would be helpful at the federal level.
“These are common-sense investments in public safety — and they get results,” the mayors wrote. “What doesn’t work is sending in the National Guard when there is no emergency on the ground.”
Last month, Democratic governors urged the same as the mayors, writing a letter signed by most of the country’s Democratic governors arguing that Trump’s deployment of the military to aid in civilian law enforcement is unnecessary and illegal.
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“Whether it’s Illinois, Maryland and New York or another state tomorrow, the President’s threats and efforts to deploy a state’s National Guard without the request and consent of that state’s governor is an alarming abuse of power, ineffective, and undermines the mission of our service members,” they said in the letter.
It is unclear what type of success Trump would have in actually deploying members of the National Guard to states without permission from their governors. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Trump’s June deployment of the California National Guard to Los Angeles against the governor’s and state leaders’ wishes was unlawful.