Delhi Safer Than Chicago? Trump Admin Cites Global Crime Data To Justify Troop Plan

WASHINGTON, DC -The White House is comparing the low murder rate in New Delhi to the high rate in Chicago as it builds its case for federal intervention in that city. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that the Illinois city’s murder rate was 15 times higher than the Indian capital’s in 2024.

Chicago’s homicide rate was 25.5 per 100,000 residents according to city statistics, while Delhi’s was 1.48.

Earlier, to justify Trump deploying National Guard troops and federal law enforcement personnel in Washington, the White House posted a chart showing the murder rates in 11 capitals around the world in 2024.

That ranked Delhi’s murder rate at the ninth spot, with only London and Madrid ahead of it, while Washington topped the chart with 27.64 homicides.

Having deployed the National Guard in Washington, Chicago is his next target. “Chicago is a mess” and Chicagoans were “screaming” for help, President Trump said last week.

The US Constitution or laws don’t have provisions for ‘President’s Rule’ or federal intervention in states, and his plans have met stiff opposition from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and federal troops’ deployment will likely face court challenges.

“Action will be met with a response”, Pritzker warned. “We will not stand idly by if he decides to send the National Guard to intimidate Chicagoans,” he added.

President Trump has said that he wants the death penalty, which is on the federal law books, to be invoked in Washington and juveniles to be prosecuted as adults.

He is also pushing all the states and cities that have introduced cashless bail to rescind them by threatening to withhold federal funds.

Most crime victims in cities are African Americans and Latinos — nearly 95 per cent of murder victims in Chicago, for example, are from those communities — and President Trump hopes to appeal to them.

In hard numbers, Chicago, with a population of 2.75 million recorded 573 homicides and 2,189 sex crimes last year, according to the city.

Washington, which has a population of only 702,250, saw 187 homicides and 143 sex abuse cases last year, according to the city’s federal prosecutor’s office.

In contrast, Delhi, with a population of 34 million, had 504 murders and 2,076 crimes against women last year, according to police. (IANS)