Imagine National Guard soldiers from the Republican states of Texas, Florida, and Arkansas arriving in the Democratic sanctuary cities of Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, suppressing protests, rounding up immigrants, and jailing anyone who gets in their way. This Civil War–like scenario is one step the Trump administration might take, as it attempts to turn the National Guard into an anti-immigrant army answerable only to the president.
Much of the media scrutiny this past week has focused on whether Trump intends to invoke the Insurrection Act, the sweeping authority that allows the president to use the military wherever, and however he wants, in order to protect the country from domestic threats.
