What we know about National Guard deployments in Chicago and Portland

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The first National Guard troops sent to Chicago by President Donald Trump arrived Tuesday at an Army training center outside the city.

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.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott posted a picture on social media Monday showing Texas National Guard members boarding a plane but didn’t specify where they were going.

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.

The arrival of National Guard members 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 continues to flex federal power and 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.

Sending the National Guard to states over their governor’s objections is not a new idea in Trump’s inner circle. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said in November 2023 that a second Trump administration would order the Guard in sympathetic Republican-led states to Democrat-run states that refuse to cooperate with his drive for mass deportations.

Here’s a snapshot of where things stand:

Pritzker, a Democrat, has denounced Trump's plan to put boots on the ground in the nation's third-largest city.

“Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,” Pritzker said after the lawsuit was filed. He said a court hearing was set for Thursday.

The ACLU of Illinois also filed suit Monday against Trump, the 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 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, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Headline Club, 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 Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek talked to Trump in late September and said a deployment was unnecessary. She refused to call up Oregon National Guard troops, so Trump did so himself in an order to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. That prompted a lawsuit from city and state officials that led to Sunday's temporary hold.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday barring federal agents from using city-owned property as staging areas. It applies to parking lots, garages and vacant lots.

The sight of armed, camouflaged and masked Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous downtown landmarks has amplified concerns about racial profiling. Many Chicagoans were already uneasy after the immigration crackdown began. Agents have targeted immigrant-heavy and largely Latino areas.

DHS acknowledged that federal agents shot a woman Saturday on the southwest side of Chicago. A department statement said it happened after Border Patrol agents patrolling the area “were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars.”

“The officers exited their trapped vehicle, when a suspect tried to run them over, forcing the officers to fire defensively,” the statement said.

No law enforcement officers were seriously injured, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

The woman who was shot is a U.S. citizen and was armed with a semiautomatic weapon, according to McLaughlin. She was being treated at a hospital, according to fire officials.

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 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.

Miller told reporters the administration would appeal the ruling.

The Portland ICE facility has been the site of demonstrations for months. Since June, 30 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the protests, the U.S. attorney’s office in Oregon said Monday.

On Wednesday, Hegseth, Miller and Attorney General Pam Bondi 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.