{"id":284900,"date":"2025-10-07T22:18:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T22:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/284900\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:18:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T22:18:14","slug":"texas-national-guard-members-in-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/284900\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas National Guard members in Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) \u2014 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\u2019s plan to send troops to the Chicago area despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition<\/a> from Democratic elected leaders.<\/p>\n

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has accused President Donald Trump of using troops as \u201cpolitical props\u201d and \u201cpawns,\u201d said he didn\u2019t get a heads-up from Washington.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Guard\u2019s exact mission was not immediately clear, though the Trump administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation\u2019s 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 \u201chell hole\u201d of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in most crimes, including homicides.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s bid to deploy the military on U.S. soil over local opposition has triggered a conflict with blue state governors<\/a>. Illinois and Chicago are urging a federal judge to intervene and stop \u201cTrump\u2019s long-declared \u2018War\u2019\u201d on the state. A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday. In Oregon, a judge over the weekend<\/a> blocked the Guard\u2019s deployment to Portland, Oregon.<\/p>\n

Illinois: We don\u2019t need troops <\/p>\n

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, \u201cever ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pritzker said he \u201cliterally canceled everything\u201d Saturday in anticipation of a call from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have not picked up the phone and called me. Not once,\u201d Pritzker said Tuesday at a gathering of business, cultural and political leaders in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act<\/a> limits the military\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions<\/a> over the Army Reserve Center for security reasons until Dec. 6.<\/p>\n

Robert Hartley, 62, who works at Raceway Pizza & More near the site, said he has doubts about putting the Guard on duty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the president might be overstepping his boundaries,\u201d Hartley said.<\/p>\n

Months of tension<\/p>\n

The sight of armed Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous landmarks<\/a> has amplified concerns from Chicagoans already uneasy<\/a> after an immigration crackdown that began last month. Agents have targeted immigrant-heavy and largely Latino areas.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who supports the effort, has said the troops will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service to \u201cplay a critical support role\u201d for local law enforcement, though that role hasn\u2019t been precisely defined yet.<\/p>\n

A broad military strategy<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Most violent crime around the U.S. has declined<\/a> in recent years. In Chicago, homicides were down 31% to 278 through August, police data shows. Portland\u2019s homicides from January through June decreased by 51% to 17 this year compared with the same period in 2024.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

An appeals court has scheduled arguments for Thursday in the government\u2019s bid to overcome a lower court\u2019s rulings and deploy the Guard in Portland. <\/p>\n

Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek said she met Tuesday with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and told her there\u2019s \u201cno insurrection\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cOregon is united against military policing in our communities,\u201d Kotek said.<\/p>\n

A federal judge in September said<\/a> the administration \u201cwillfully\u201d broke federal law by putting Guard troops in Los Angeles over protests about immigration raids.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) \u2014 National Guard members from Texas were getting settled at an Army Reserve center in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":284901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[3881,120331,20174,276,960,356,69,57,5026,5386,1819,1818,409,72794,2399,362,8132,6065,212,6986,80,402,146835,358,136288,5028,3676,61,67,370,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-284900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-ap-top-news","9":"tag-bill-lee","10":"tag-brandon-johnson","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-chicago","13":"tag-courts","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-greg-abbott","17":"tag-il","18":"tag-il-state-wire","19":"tag-illinois","20":"tag-immigration","21":"tag-j-b-pritzker","22":"tag-kristi-noem","23":"tag-legal-proceedings","24":"tag-military-and-defense","25":"tag-or-state-wire","26":"tag-oregon","27":"tag-pete-hegseth","28":"tag-politics","29":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","30":"tag-robert-hartley","31":"tag-texas","32":"tag-tina-kotek","33":"tag-tx-state-wire","34":"tag-u-s-department-of-homeland-security","35":"tag-u-s-news","36":"tag-united-states","37":"tag-united-states-government","38":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115335207723023379","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}