President Donald Trump's move comes after Gov. JB Pritzker said earlier this week the Department of Homeland Security requested deployment of 100 military troops to Illinois “for the protection of ICE personnel and facilities.”
First of all, the method would vary depending on each state constitution: by legislature or amendment. By my read, Oregon would be by legislature and Illinois by constitutional amendment.
From Illinois’ constitution:
The Governor is commander-in-chief of the organized militia, except when they are in the service of the United States. He may call them out to enforce the laws, suppress insurrection or repel invasion.
If a state tried it, it would immediately be challenged in the courts. National Guard units are both federal and state entities, meaning there are federal statutes around National Guard units.
States also get training, equipment funding, and operational support for their National Guard units from the federal government. If they reorganized them into a state guard, the equipment that was purchased with grants would have to remain with their National Guard. So even if it got through the state and federal challenges, they’d need to buy new equipment too. Guess who’s suddenly unwilling to sell them equipment?
National Guard units also hypothetically have easier access to disaster funds. Although that doesn’t really matter under Trump, it may matter in the future.
The other side of the coin is the incentive to the Guardsmen themselves. They have education and retirement benefits. If they were reorganized, the state would probably have to make up the difference, if they could even legally do that.
Bottom line is attempting to reorganize into state militias is a multi-year effort that will be both extremely expensive and likely to fail due to judicial review.
Now, most of the other things you discussed would be major hurdles. It also would be seen as an escalation that Illinois was planning for a clash with National Troops.
It probably could be done under the pretense that the state guard needs more capacity to handle state emergencies while it’s national guard troops have been federalized.
What’s been interesting is that the “mission” the Federal Government has been tasking these units with are designed to pass the smell test. “Protect federal buildings and federal agents.” It’s a guise that makes the individuals objection to their mission orders harder to be considered illegal. It’s not “arrest protestors” or “detain illegals.”
First of all, the method would vary depending on each state constitution: by legislature or amendment. By my read, Oregon would be by legislature and Illinois by constitutional amendment.
From Illinois’ constitution:
If a state tried it, it would immediately be challenged in the courts. National Guard units are both federal and state entities, meaning there are federal statutes around National Guard units.
States also get training, equipment funding, and operational support for their National Guard units from the federal government. If they reorganized them into a state guard, the equipment that was purchased with grants would have to remain with their National Guard. So even if it got through the state and federal challenges, they’d need to buy new equipment too. Guess who’s suddenly unwilling to sell them equipment?
National Guard units also hypothetically have easier access to disaster funds. Although that doesn’t really matter under Trump, it may matter in the future.
The other side of the coin is the incentive to the Guardsmen themselves. They have education and retirement benefits. If they were reorganized, the state would probably have to make up the difference, if they could even legally do that.
Bottom line is attempting to reorganize into state militias is a multi-year effort that will be both extremely expensive and likely to fail due to judicial review.
Illinois already has a state guard in its constitution that would be able to be activated by the governor.
https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=317&ChapterID=5
Now, most of the other things you discussed would be major hurdles. It also would be seen as an escalation that Illinois was planning for a clash with National Troops.
It probably could be done under the pretense that the state guard needs more capacity to handle state emergencies while it’s national guard troops have been federalized.
What’s been interesting is that the “mission” the Federal Government has been tasking these units with are designed to pass the smell test. “Protect federal buildings and federal agents.” It’s a guise that makes the individuals objection to their mission orders harder to be considered illegal. It’s not “arrest protestors” or “detain illegals.”