What we know about National Guard deployments in Chicago and Portland
News > Politics & Government News
Audio By Carbonatix
4:50 PM on Monday, September 29
By The Associated Press
The first National Guard troops sent to Chicago by President Donald Trump arrived Tuesday at an Army training center outside the city, the latest in the running political and legal battle with Democratic elected officials over the president's plan to deploy the Guard in U.S. cities.
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 (88 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said some 300 of his state’s guard troops were to be federalized and deployed to the nation’s third-largest city, along with 400 others from Texas.
Their arrival follows a lawsuit Illinois and Chicago filed Monday alleging that Trump's authorization to deploy troops to the Windy City is "unlawful and dangerous.” Trump claims the troops are needed to protect federal immigration enforcement efforts and crack down on crime.
In Oregon, a federal judge temporarily blocked a deployment of troops Sunday, hours after that state's governor said California National Guard members had arrived, with more on the way and headed to Portland.
Here’s a snapshot of where things stand:
Pritzker, a Democrat, has denounced Trump's plan to put boots on the ground in Chicago, saying “Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois also filed suit Monday against Trump, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and several of the agencies’ leaders, accusing them of unleashing a campaign of violence and intimidation against peaceful protesters and journalists during protests outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.
At the facility, which sits about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago, federal agents have repeatedly fired tear gas, pepper balls and other projectiles toward crowds. At least seven people have faced federal charges after being arrested in those clashes.
Filed by a coalition of news outlets, media associations and protesters, including the Illinois Press Association, the lawsuit alleges federal agents used “indiscriminate” force and interfered with First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech and press.
In addition to the military personnel wearing the Texas National Guard patch at the Army Reserve Center in Elwood, the AP saw trucks marked Emergency Disaster Services pull in and out Tuesday afternoon. They were dropping off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows.
Robert Hartley, a supervisor and delivery driver at a nearby pizza shop, said he has concerns about Texas National Guard members being sent to Elwood and deployed to the Chicago area.
“I think the president might be overstepping his boundaries," said Hartley, 62.
Trump has characterized Portland and Chicago as rife with crime and unrest. Since the start of his second term, he has sent or talked about sending troops to 10 cities, including Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; the District of Columbia; New Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
About 400 protesters marched to a Portland ICE detention facility Saturday. Federal agents used chemical crowd control munitions, including tear gas canisters and less-lethal guns that sprayed pepper balls, the Oregonian reported.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut temporarily blocked the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops Saturday, saying the relatively small protests did not justify the use of federalized state forces and that the deployment could harm Oregon’s sovereignty.
The Trump administration responded by attempting to send in National Guard troops from California and Texas, prompting Gov. Tina Kotek and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, to go back to court Sunday. Immergut blocked any National Guard troops from being sent to Oregon for 14 days.
The Trump administration appealed the ruling, and the appeals court scheduled arguments for Thursday.
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller rallied members of a federal law enforcement task force that began operating in Memphis as part of Trump’s crime-fighting plan. Guard troops have not been officially deployed in Memphis, but the city’s police chief told the City Council on Tuesday that they could arrive by Friday.
Tennessee 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.
On Sept. 30, Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry asked for a guard deployment to New Orleans and other cities to help fight crime.
Trump deployed guard soldiers and active duty Marines in Los Angeles during the summer over the objections of Newsom, who sued and won a temporary block after a federal judge found the president's use of the guard was likely unlawful.
The Trump administration appealed, and the block was put on hold by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate case is still underway, but the panel has indicated that it believes the administration is likely to prevail.
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Associated Press reporters across the U.S. contributed, including Claire Rush in Portland; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Jack Brook in New Orleans; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Josh Boak in Washington.
