As President Donald Trump authorizes National Guard deployments to address public safety in cities including Memphis and Portland, several Republican state legislators from other regions have expressed interest in similar federal assistance for their areas.
Among the potential locations highlighted are St. Louis and Chicago, both long-managed by Democratic leadership and facing persistent crime rates that have drawn national attention.
St. Louis Officials Advocate for Collaborative Cleanup Efforts
Missouri state representatives have voiced concerns about infrastructure and safety issues in St. Louis, which has frequently appeared in rankings for high m*rder rates. The city’s former prosecutor, Kim Gardner, who received support from philanthropist George Soros, stepped down in 2023 following Republican-led pressure.
Local lawmakers described the conditions in stark terms. “It is dystopian. You can’t even believe you’re in an American city in some parts of it. You cannot even believe it,” Missouri state Rep. Justin Sparks told The Daily Wire of St. Louis.
“Like the streets are crumbling. The infrastructure is crumbling. Electricity, trash, piles of trash in alleys, like animals running freely.”
Republican Rep. Holly Jones added, “You cannot take your families to a ballgame or to a sporting event … because the drug problem is so bad and they don’t do anything about it,” she told The Daily Wire.
State Sen. Nick Schroer suggested partnering with Gov. Mike Kehoe for federal involvement. “If Trump is able to work with the Kehoe administration and get some troops in there to kind of clean it up, we could expedite this thing. and be on the right course within two to three years,” he said.
Schroer referenced a recent state crime bill that reallocates police oversight from local Democratic authorities in cities like St. Louis and Kansas City, noting that additional federal resources could complement these measures.
The group emphasized increasing law enforcement presence, including potential Guard units, as a strategy for high-crime areas. “That’s what will work at every urban decaying h*llhole in our country, flood the zone, and take the bad guys and actually charge them with crimes and hold them down,” Sparks said.
Chicago Reactions to Proposed Federal Intervention
In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced on Sunday that Trump plans to send 400 National Guard troops to Chicago, describing the action as an “invasion.” Pritzker has previously minimized discussions of the city’s crime statistics.
Before this statement, Illinois Republican lawmakers indicated openness to the deployment.
“I think it would restore order. I think just the threat of the National Guard has the radical left scared and they’re probably going to let the police do a little bit better of a job,” Rep. Adam Niemerg said.
Rep. Chris Miller, spouse of U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, affirmed his support: “I would ‘absolutely’ support the National Guard being sent into Chicago.”
Miller critiqued state and local leaders, saying, “When I look at what’s going on with JB Pritzker and [Chicago Mayor] Brandon Johnson, they are missing a golden opportunity to be heroes in the state of Illinois. If they would cooperate with ICE, if they would cooperate with President Trump, Illinois could begin to enjoy the Golden Age of America that everybody else is enjoying, that are embracing the policies and what Trump’s trying to do.”
He quipped that Pritzker required an “ICR” — inner-cranial rectal removal — adding, “they should look at the template of Trump’s Washington, D.C., crime crackdown and get Chicago under control in a couple of weeks.”
