National Guard members from Texas are in Illinois in Trump's latest move
to send troops to cities
[October 08, 2025]
By ERIN HOOLEY and CHRISTINE FERNANDO
ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) — National Guard members from Texas were getting
settled 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,” said he didn't get a
heads-up from Washington.
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. Extra fencing was spread across
the perimeter.
The Guard's 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 Chicago in Broadview. The president
repeatedly has described Chicago in hostile terms, calling it a “hell
hole” of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in
most crimes, including homicides.
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, Oregon.
Illinois: We don't need troops
Pritzker had predicted 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.”
Pritzker said he “literally canceled everything” Saturday in
anticipation of a call from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
"They have not picked up the phone and called me. Not once,” Pritzker
said Tuesday at a gathering of business, cultural and political leaders
in Minneapolis.
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military’s role
in enforcing domestic laws. However, 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.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the
Army Reserve Center for security reasons until Dec. 6.
Robert Hartley, 62, who works at Raceway Pizza & More near the site,
said he has doubts about putting the Guard on duty.
“I think the president might be overstepping his boundaries," Hartley
said.
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.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson 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.
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Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch
on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025,
in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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 Portland, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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.
Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek said she met Tuesday with
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and told her
there’s “no insurrection” in the state.
“Oregon is united against military policing in our communities,”
Kotek said.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day said Tuesday that the department needs
to work more closely with federal agents as it looks put more
officers at the ICE facility.
“We’ve been trying to coordinate that with the federal response
because we have differing policies, differing expectations around
procedures," he said.
Noem told Fox News on Tuesday that she told Portland Mayor Keith
Wilson that if the city did not boost security at the ICE building,
get backup from local law enforcement, and take other safety
measures then “we were going to send four-times the amount of
federal officers here."
A federal judge in September said the administration “willfully”
broke federal law by putting Guard troops in Los Angeles over
protests about immigration raids.
___
Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press reporters Claire
Rush in Portland, Oregon, 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.
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