Elwood, IL (AP) – National Guard members from Texas were at an Army Reserve center in Illinois on Tuesday, the most visible sign yet of the Trump administration’s plan to send troops to the Chicago area despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has accused President Donald Trump of using troops as “political props” and “pawns,” did not immediately comment on the development.
The Associated Press saw military personnel in uniforms with the Texas National Guard patch at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Trucks marked Emergency Disaster Services pulled in and out, dropping off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows.
The exact mission was not immediately clear, though the Trump administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation’s third-largest city, and protesters have frequently rallied at an immigration building outside the city in Broadview.
Trump’s bid to deploy the military on U.S. soil over local opposition has triggered a conflict with blue state governors. Illinois and Chicago are urging a federal judge to intervene and stop “Trump’s long-declared ‘War’” on the state. A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday. In Oregon, a judge over the weekend blocked the Guard’s deployment to Portland.
Illinois: We don’t need troops
Pritzker had said Monday that Illinois National Guard troops would be activated, along with 400 from Texas. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott posted a picture on social media showing troops boarding a plane and declared, “ever ready.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the president’s strategy is “unconstitutional, it’s illegal and it’s dangerous.”
The Trump administration has portrayed the cities as war-ravaged and lawless amid its crackdown on illegal immigration. Officials in Illinois and Oregon, however, say military intervention isn’t needed and that federal involvement is inflaming the situation.
Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
“If people were being killed, and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up.” Trump said Monday.
Months of tension
The sight of armed Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous landmarks has amplified concerns from Chicagoans already uneasy after an immigration crackdown that began last month. Agents have targeted immigrant-heavy and largely Latino areas.
The Chicago mayor signed an executive order Monday barring federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property, such as parking lots, garages and vacant lots, as staging areas for enforcement operations.
In Memphis, Tennessee, meanwhile, police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Guard troops could arrive by Friday. She said a small group of commanders were already in the city, working on planning and logistics.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who supports the effort, has said the troops will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service to “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement, though that role hasn’t been precisely defined yet.
A broad military strategy
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or talked about sending troops to 10 cities, including Baltimore; Memphis; the District of Columbia; New Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Most violent crime around the U.S. has declined in recent years. In Chicago, homicides were down 31% to 278 through August, police data shows. Portland’s homicides from January through June decreased by 51% to 17 this year compared with the same period in 2024.
In Oregon, the Portland ICE facility has been the site of nightly protests for months, peaking in June when local police declared a riot, with smaller clashes occurring since then. Over the weekend, larger crowds gathered outside the facility, and federal agents fired tear gas.
An appeals court has scheduled arguments for Thursday in the government’s bid to overcome a lower court’s rulings and deploy the Guard in Portland.
A federal judge in September said the administration “willfully” broke federal law by putting Guard troops in Los Angeles over protests about immigration raids.
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Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.
