President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act , the federal law dating back to 1807, if courts or state officials delay his plans to deploy soldiers to US cities in support of his anti-immigration crackdown.

The threat came as his efforts to deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, were temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Monday, and the Democratic governor of Illinois dubbed troop deployment to the state capital, Chicago, an “invasion” .

The US president has already deployed troops in the federal district of Washington, DC, and the state of California, citing rising crime and the harbouring of undocumented immigrants.

So, why does Trump want to invoke the 19th-century act, and what are the legal hurdles ahead?

Is insurrection happening in Portlan

See Full Page