After the federal agents patrolled Washington, DC last month, US President Donald Trump is now planning to send National Guard to New Orleans to fight crime and expand the number of cities with federal law enforcement.
Before this, Trump already said that he has plans to send the National Guard to Chicago and Baltimore.
During the Oval Office meeting of Trump with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, he asked the reporter, “Do we go to Chicago? Do we go to a place like New Orleans, where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that’s become quite, you know, quite tough, quite bad."
Talking about going to New Orleans, Trump said, “So we’re going to be going to maybe Louisiana, and you have New Orleans, which has a crime problem.” He also said that the final decision to regarding where the deployment will be straightened out in about two weeks.
Trump claims that Washington has turned into a “safe zone”, while the White House reported more than 1.760 reset arrests citywide since the president first announced he was mobilising federal forces on Aug. 7.
{{/usCountry}}Trump claims that Washington has turned into a “safe zone”, while the White House reported more than 1.760 reset arrests citywide since the president first announced he was mobilising federal forces on Aug. 7.
{{/usCountry}}However, Washington is a federal district governed by laws that grant Trump the authority to take control of the local police force for up to 30 days. Expanding the use of troops to address crime in other Democratic-led cities across the country would mark a significant escalation.
This decision comes a day after Trump declared he might deploy guards in Chicago and Baltimore. Despite the residents and local officials resenting this move Trump administration plans on carrying it forward.
Predominantly a Democratic leaning city, New Orleans is run by Landry, a Republican.
Responding to the news, city officials, including City Councilmember Oliver Thomas, said that crime is down in New Orleans and that the deployment would be a very political or a major overreaction. Councilmember Jean-Paul Morrell said it is “ridiculous to consider sending the National Guard into another American city that hasn’t asked for it.”
Landry, on the other hand, shared a social media post supporting Trump’s decision, saying, “We will take President @realDonaldTrump’s help from New Orleans to Shreveport!” while House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, whose district includes the conservative suburbs outside of New Orleans, praised Trump's efforts in Washington.
(With inputs from AP)