What we know about National Guard deployments in Chicago and Portland
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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.
Since the start of his second term, the Republican president has sent or talked about sending troops to 10 cities, including Portland, Oregon; Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; the District of Columbia; New Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Here’s a snapshot of where things stand now:
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.
When that will happen wasn’t known yet Tuesday afternoon.
Pritzker, a Democrat, has denounced Trump’s plan to put troops on the ground in Chicago, saying in a lawsuit aimed at stopping it that the plan is “unlawful and dangerous.”
Trump claims the troops are needed to protect federal immigration enforcement efforts and crack down on crime.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has sued Trump and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and several of the agencies’ leaders have unleashed 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.
Trump also wants to send National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, but none are deployed yet as a legal battle between his administration and Oregon is waged in the courts.
An appeals court has scheduled arguments for Thursday in the government’s bid to overcome a lower court’s ruling blocking the deployment of the National Guard in Portland.
Oregon is fighting to prevent federalized National Guard troops from coming to the state's largest city to address ongoing protests at an immigration processing facility there. But Trump has turned his attention to the city, calling Portland a “war zone."
Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek said she met Tuesday with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and told her there’s “no insurrection” in the state.
“Oregon is united against military policing in our communities,” Kotek said.
National 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.
Unlike in Chicago and Portland, they would be welcomed by Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has said the troops will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service to “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement.
Last week, 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.
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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.