Members of the Texas National Guard arrived in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday as the Trump administration goes ahead with its planned troop deployment in the country’s third-largest city. The National Guard members were seen in the US Army Reserve Centre in Elwood, 88 kilometers southwest of Chicago, a day after Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted a picture on social media showing troops from his state boarding a plane. 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) Texas National Guard in Chicago They are likely to be deployed along with the Illinois National Guard troops in the Chicago area in the coming days. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters that the administration isn't sharing much information with the city.“ That is what is so difficult about this moment: You have an administration that is refusing to cooperate with a local authority,” Johnson said Tuesday. Lawsuits against National Guard deployment The Trump administration is going ahead with the National Guard deployment despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders. 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) Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as “political props” and “pawns.” A federal judge gave the Trump administration two days to respond to a lawsuit filed Monday by Illinois and Chicago challenging the plan. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday. The lawsuit says, “these advances in President Trump’s long-declared ‘War’ on Chicago and Illinois are unlawful and dangerous.” Trump’s bid to deploy the military on US soil over local opposition has triggered a conflict with blue state governors. Trump may invoke Insurrection Act During a White House briefing, Trump said he was still considering invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops, a move that could bypass the court fight. It allows the president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law. “If I had to enact it — I’d do that,” Trump said Monday. “If people were being killed, and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up.” “Chicago’s a great city where there’s a lot of crime and if the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do the job,” Trump said, calling Johnson “grossly incompetent.” National Guard deployment in Portland In Oregon, a judge over the weekend blocked the Guard’s deployment to Portland. The Trump administration has portrayed the cities as war-ravaged and lawless amid its crackdown on illegal immigration. Officials in Illinois and Oregon, however, say military intervention isn’t needed and that federal involvement is inflaming the situation. 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. The Chicago mayor 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. Separately, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is also suing the federal government, accusing it of unleashing a campaign of violence against peaceful protesters and journalists during weeks of demonstrations outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in suburban Broadview. A protester is arrested by police and federal officers outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in response to the lawsuit that the First Amendment doesn't protect "rioting.” In Oregon, the Portland ICE 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. In recent weeks, the protests typically drew a couple of dozen people — until the deployment was announced. Over the weekend, larger crowds gathered outside the facility, and federal agents fired tear gas.
