President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which is a federal law that dates back to the year 1907.
This states that if the court of officials of the state delays his plans to deploy soldiers to US cities in support of his anti-immigration crackdown, he would have a say, as he is president.
The threat comes as his efforts to deploy the National Guard in Portland were faced with plenty of legal challenges. His orders were temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Monday, and the Democratic governor of Illinois dubbed troop deployment to the state capital, Chicago for an invasion.
The American president has already rolled out troops in the federal district of Washington, DC, and the state of California, citing rising crime and the harboring of undocumented immigrants. Now the question remains why Trump wants to invoke the 19th Century act and what legal hurdles might this come with?
On Monday, Trump shared how an insurrection was taking place in Portland and failed to share any proof. He mentioned in the White House how the events being played out in Portland were criminal insurrection, and that raised plenty of eyebrows across the board.