'It's un-American': governor defiant in face of Trump's threat to send troops to Chicago

Bullish billionaire JB Pritzker has rallied Democrats with his vow to oppose any move by the president in court

- Hugh Tomlinson

Flanked by a 4ft effigy of Jesus on the counter, John Rodriguez gestured unhappily to his empty shop in Chicago’s Little Village neighbourhood.

“Business is slow. People are not in the street. Events are being cancelled,” he said. “People are frightened.”

The shop on West 26th Street turns out religious statues for festivals and parties. In the window, a huge figure of Death, clad in a red cape and carrying a scythe, towers over an effigy of the Virgin Mary.

With the Day of the Dead festival on the horizon, this should be a busy time in Little Village, known as the “Mexico of the midwest”. Instead, the mood is tense as Donald Trump threatens to send National Guard troops into Chicago to crack down on crime and illegal immigration, condemning the third-largest US city as “a killing field”.

“This whole area is Hispanic,” said Rodriguez. “If soldiers come to Chicago, where do you think they'll go?”

Latino communities in Little Village and nearby Pilsen have already seen a surge of raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since Trump's return to power. Now they fear worse is to come as the president moves to expand his military takeover of Washington DC to other Democratic cities.

Trump's move to send troops into Chicago with Baltimore and New York next in his sights - would mark a further escalation as he continues to test and expand the limits of presidential power.

Trump last week insisted that he had “the right to do anything I want”.

“I'm the president of the United States,” Trump said. “If I think our country is in danger - and it is in danger in these cities - I can do it.”