President Donald Trump is considering enacting the Insurrection Act after he threatened to start deploying the National Guard to multiple U.S. cities.
The Insurrection Act of 1807, created by former President Thomas Jefferson, is a federal law that allows the sitting U.S. president to deploy military troops and federalize the National Guard to suppress rebellion within a state or city.
The last time the Insurrection Act was used was by George H.W. Bush during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
According to ABC News, Trump blamed Democratic governors and mayors for preventing National Guard troops from enforcing immigration laws in their respective cities, saying that they have turned those areas into “war zones.”
Federal judges have also blocked Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in various cities. Most recently, a federal judge blocked Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, but another judge allowed the president’s deployment of troops to Chicago.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that invoking the Insurrection Act may be a necessary measure.
“If I had to enact it, I’d do that,” Trump said. “If people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that. I mean, I want to make sure that people aren’t killed. We have to make sure that our cities are safe.”
Trump has the power to invoke the Insurrection Act only if there is a major rebellion that is equal to the impact of the U.S. Civil War. In times when law enforcement cannot regularly function as needed, the Insurrection Act can be applied.
So far, Trump has been using his Title 10 authority to send National Guard troops to cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Memphis. The Insurrection Act does fall under Title 10, but is used for suppressing rebellions rather than regulations.
