Some 500 members of the National Guard have arrived in the Chicago area and are being mobilized for an initial period of 60 days, despite an ongoing lawsuit challenging their deployment there, according to a statement Wednesday morning from US Northern Command, which reports to the Department of Defense.
Approximately 200 members of several Texas National Guard units and approximately 300 members of several Illinois National Guard units were activated and sent to Chicagoland, the release said. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker denounced the deployment as an unconstitutional invasion.
The troops are stationed at the Army Reserve Center in Elwood, outside Joliet, Illinois, about an hour southwest of Chicago.
“These forces will protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other members of the U.S. Government who perform federal functions, including federal law enforcement, and protect federal property,” U.S. Northern Command said in its statement.
On Monday, the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops on the streets of Chicago.
In a statement released Sunday, before the National Guard arrived, Pritzker said: “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s invasion. »
“It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our will, and it will now involve sending military troops from another state,” he said in the statement.
“The brave men and women who serve in our National Guards must not be used as political props,” he said. “This is a moment when every American must speak up and help stop this madness.”
President Donald Trump said in a message to Truth Social on Wednesday that Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “should be in jail” in an escalation of his conflict with the two Democratic officials.
“The mayor of Chicago should be in jail for failing to protect the ice officers!” » he said in the post. “Governor Pritzker too!”
Trump has threatened for weeks to send troops to Chicago as part of an anti-crime and immigration effort, and Democrats have fought back and said any deployment would be politically motivated against his perceived enemies and an overreach of authority.
NBC News has contacted the White House for further comment.
Pritzker responded to the president in a message to X, saying, “I will not back down.”
“Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected officials who control his power,” he said. “What else is left on the path to full-fledged authoritarianism?
Reached for comment, Johnson said “this is not the first time Trump has attempted to have a black man unjustly arrested.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he added.
The Trump administration is also seeking to send the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, but a judge this week granted a temporary restraining order to block that move while the matter is heard in court.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the troops would have worked to support ICE and other federal personnel, as well as protect federal property.
On Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek ordered U.S. Northern Command to demobilize all 200 Oregon National Guard troops and return another 200 California National Guard members to their state.
Referring to the judge’s ruling temporarily blocking Trump from sending the National Guard to Portland, Kotek said in a statement: “Judge Karin J. Immergut’s orders are a clear and forceful rebuttal to President Trump’s misuse of the states’ National Guard.” »
“I therefore order Northern Command to immediately remove Oregon citizen-soldiers from Camp Rilea,” Kotek said. “Let’s remember that these Oregonians are our neighbors and friends, who were illegally taken from their families and careers – they deserve better than this.”
It was unclear whether Kotek’s letter to U.S. Northern Command would have any effect. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News regarding the legal status for ordering U.S. Northern Command to send troops home. NBC News has also reached out to U.S. Northern Command for comment.
