This week, President Donald Trump escalated his plans to send National Guard troops into blue cities — fighting in court to deploy them to Portland and sending others to Chicago ostensibly to fight crime and support federal immigration agents. He has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if courts rule against him. While images of soldiers on city streets offer a visible show of federal power, a quieter takeover is simultaneously emerging: state preemption.

On March 17, the Fort Myers City Council declined to approve an agreement that would have entered the Florida city’s police department into a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Those who voted ‘no’ could not have foreseen what came next.

The following morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSanti

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