WHEREAS, The Trump Administration has unilaterally ordered the National Guard to occupy multiple American cities, from Washington, D.C. to Chicago and Los Angeles without the consent of local governments or evidence of a legitimate emergency; and
WHEREAS, Although Trump has declared a national emergency pertaining to crime and disorder as justification for his unilateral domestic occupation, no such emergency exists as a matter of observable fact. Municipalities are experiencing a precipitous drop in crime post-pandemic, including Philadelphia seeing lower homicide and violent crime numbers than it has in years; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has been identified as a potential target for future deployment by the Administration, prompting Governor Josh Shapiro to declare that Pennsylvania was planning for such circumstances; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s reduction in crime and incarceration has also seen a dramatic reduction in recidivism reflecting a commitment to restorative justice and community-based safety strategies. Introducing the National Guard, which includes troops from states across the country who are not familiar with Philadelphia, nor with policing a large metropolitan area, would not improve the safety of residents in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Other cities have seen National Guard deployed in a discriminatory and wasteful manner, with Guard members assigned to menial labor or tasked with enforcing laws they are not familiar with and disrupting residents' lives in the process. The daily cost of the deployment is in the millions; and
WHEREAS, The unilateral declaration of a national emergency coupled with the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to Democratic-majority cities represents an unprecedented threat to American democracy and constitutes a grave threat to civil liberties and the democratic principle of local self-governance. Protests have erupted across the country. It is imperative that cities band together to defend our collective liberty and independent voice, rooted in the jurisdiction guaranteed to us by the Constitution; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby condemns the Trump Administration’s deployment of the National Guard to American cities and calls on leaders across the country to defend democratic governance and civil liberties through every lawful means.
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