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 latest in the 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 discussed sending troops to 10 cities, including Portland, Oregon; Baltimore; Memphis, Tennessee; the District of Columbia; New Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Here’s 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.

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said some 300 of the state’s Guard troops were to be federalized and deployed to the nation’s third-largest city, along with 400 others from Texas.

“The federal government has not communicated with us in any way about their troop movements,” Pritzker told reporters Wednesday in Chicago. “I can’t believe I have to say ‘troop movements’ in an American city, but that is what we’re talking about here.”

Pritzker has denounced Trump’s plan to put troops on the ground, saying in a lawsuit that it is “unlawful and dangerous.”

Trump claims troops are needed to protect federal immigration enforcement efforts and crack down on crime.

A court hearing is scheduled for Thursday on a request by Illinois and Chicago to declare the Guard deployment illegal.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois also has sued Trump and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, alleging that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and several of the agencies’ leaders have unleashed a campaign of violence and intimidation against peaceful protesters and journalists during demonstrations outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.

Federal agents have repeatedly fired tear gas, pepper balls and other projectiles toward crowds at the facility, which sits about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago. At least seven people have faced federal charges after being arrested in those clashes.

As tensions rise, so has the rhetoric.

Trump, in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, said Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers,” referring to the U.S. immigration agency. It was not immediately clear what Trump was objecting to.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Johnson said in a post on the social platform X, “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”

Pritzker also said he would not back down.

“Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power,” the governor wrote on X. “What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”

Trump also wants to send Guard troops to Portland, but none have been deployed yet, as a legal battle over it 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 Guard's deployment in Portland.

Oregon is fighting to prevent federalized Guard members 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.

Seattle’s mayor Bruce Harrell on Wednesday signed an executive order affirming the independence of its police department in case of any “unilateral deployment of the National Guard,” and promising a reporting system for alleged abuses by soldiers and federal agents.

Guard members have not been officially deployed in Memphis, but the city’s police chief told the city council 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.