The expected troop deployment came as a couple dozen protesters gathered outside the Broadview facility in designated free speech zones. Several dozen more met for a candlelight vigil in Joliet, near the Elwood base where Texas troops were stationed. A larger protest in downtown Chicago saw hundreds march up Michigan Avenue from Congress Plaza Garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo people who are scared, who are detained, we are fighting for you,\u201d said Meredith Shoemaker, a 19-year-old Loyola University Chicago student who marched downtown. \u201cWe don\u2019t support what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some protesters said they were marching to resist President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> apparent goal of intimidating immigrant residents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can stand up for people that can\u2019t stand up for themselves,\u201d said Jinah Yun-Mitchell, 59, of Lincolnshire. \u201cThe rule of law is falling apart, so we all need to do something to make sure that it doesn\u2019t keep going in this direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas National Guard members arrived early Tuesday<\/a> at a military training site in Elwood, about 50 miles from Chicago, ahead of the operation to protect federal immigration agents and facilities. Their arrival came after weeks of threats from Trump to deploy military troops into Illinois over the vehement objections of Gov. JB Pritzker and other Democratic leaders.<\/p>\n The troops showed up a day after a federal judge rejected a request<\/a> from Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to immediately bar the deployment. A hearing on the temporary restraining order sought by Illinois leaders was scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n During a White House briefing, Trump said he was considering invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops, a move that could bypass the court fight waged by Pritzker and Raoul. Trump escalated his rhetoric on Wednesday, saying Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be jailed<\/a> for failing to protect federal agents working in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at a training center in southwest suburban Elwood Tuesday. <\/p>\n At the Chicago protest, Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) called the National Guard troops in Illinois a \u201cGestapo\u201d force before the crowd. The City Council member had been handcuffed by federal agents<\/a> as she confronted them at Humboldt Park Hospital last week.<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow, we see our day in court. And we are hopeful that the judge will defend our democracy and rule that the National Guard does not belong in our city,\u201d Fuentes said, referencing the hearing before a federal judge Thursday on Illinois\u2019 bid to block<\/a> the troops\u2019 deployment.<\/p>\n About 50 people attended a candlelight vigil in Joliet, near the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood where the guard troops were stationed. Some expressed their fear and hope for the area\u2019s Latino community, which has borne the brunt of the increased immigration enforcement activity. <\/p>\n \u201cI know what it\u2019s like to go to school and come home and have your father deported. Our children are afraid, afraid to leave their homes to go to school,\u201d said Lorena Guerrero, who sits on the Joliet Township High School Board and is a licensed clinical social worker.<\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/f14dd70\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3299x2200+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F43%2F60%2Fa6f5d594473f9eced1651ea86248%2Fnationalguard-100825-01.JPG\")
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