National Guard troops positioned near Chicago, Memphis could be next
National Guard soldiers arrived near Chicago on Monday amid President Trump’s federal crackdown on crime, and Memphis could see its own troops by Friday, according to local authorities.
The troops in Illinois are stationed at an Army Reserve center in Elwood, roughly 55 miles southwest of Chicago. The Associated Press reported Wednesday morning that supplies were dropped off at the facility and extra fencing was spread around its perimeter.
Trump federalized 300 members of the Illinois National Guard on Saturday, over the objections of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. A day later, Pritzker said that the administration was federalizing 400 Texas National Guard troops to deploy to Illinois and Oregon.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) posted a photo on social platform X of his state’s troops deploying on Monday evening.
While the Trump administration is eyeing other blue-run cities to deploy troops, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut temporarily blocked the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, Ore., over the weekend. The administration attempted to send troops to Oregon, California and Texas before facing legal setbacks.
Illinois and Chicago sued to block the deployment of troops to the city Monday, calling the move “patently unlawful” and in violation of Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code and the Posse Comitatus Act, which limit the use of the military for civilian law enforcement.
U.S. District Judge April Perry declined to immediately block the move and gave the Justice Department until midnight Wednesday to respond to the suit.
On Tuesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said at a city council meeting that National Guard troops will arrive on Friday, according to a local outlet. Last month, Trump created the Memphis Safe Task Force, which will include the National Guard and agencies from other federal law enforcement agencies.
The president has targeted Chicago and Memphis over concerns over crime. According to Chicago’s violence reduction dashboard, violent crime as of Monday is down 22 percent relative to last year. Last month, the Memphis Police Department said that crime is at a 25-year low.
The move comes after Trump’s show of force in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, when the president deployed troops and federal law enforcement officials to the nation’s capital to combat crime, a mission the administration has billed as successful.
The Associated Press contributed.