Live updates: National Guard troops expected to deploy around Chicago

Mr. Trump has activated the Guard several times this year in Democratic-led cities, as part of what he called a crackdown on crime and as part of his growing immigration enforcement tactics.

Here’s a look at what the National Guard usually does and how Mr. Trump is currently deploying the force in the United States.

What is the National Guard?

Tracing its history back to the Massachusetts militia in 1636, the National Guard is a component of the United States military that has state and federal missions and traditionally operates under the jurisdiction of governors under Title 32 of the United States Code.

In comparison, the active military operates under Title 10 of the United States Code, and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 makes it a crime to use the regular military as a national police force in most circumstances.

Who is in charge?

Until recent years, the head of the National Guard Bureau, which administers two organizations – the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard – was a three-star general position.

According to the Congressional Research Service, Congress elevated the position to four-star status in 2008 and named the chief a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2011.

The current head of the National Guard Bureau is Air Force Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus.

Operationally, Guard troops currently sent to U.S. cities are under the command of Gen. Gregory M. Guillot of U.S. Northern Command, a four-star general who receives orders from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Where are the guard units located?

The Army National Guard and Air National Guard have units in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

How big is the force and what does it do?

More than 430,000 Soldiers and Airmen serve in the National Guard and operate as a reserve component of the active-duty force, typically reporting for duty one weekend a month and two weeks a year.

Beyond these obligations, they may be mobilized on active duty for specific periods by a state or territory governor for support operations such as responding to natural disasters or civil unrest.

The White House can mobilize Guard troops under Title 10 of the U.S. Code for domestic missions — including deployment overseas to serve in wars — over the objection of state and territorial governors. (The District of Columbia National Guard reports to the federal government, as the capital does not have a governor.)

The Guard also participates in training foreign allies and partners in more than 100 countries through the State Partnership Program, which grew out of a Cold War initiative to help former Soviet states manage their own military forces as newly democratic nations. Troops participating in the program often spend their two weeks of active federal duty deployed to a partner country, working with the same units to build relationships during repeat visits.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine’s military leaders often turned to their longtime partners in the California National Guard for help.

Has the federal government ever mobilized Guard troops for domestic missions?

Yes.

The Guard has been federally mobilized at least ten times since World War II, according to a recent Guard document.

Five of the mobilizations supported racial desegregation efforts and civil rights protections: in the schools of Little Rock, Ark., in 1957-58; Oxford, Mississippi, in 1962; twice in Alabama in 1963, and again in 1965 to protect civil rights demonstrators from Selma to Montgomery. Until this year, the 1965 mobilization was the last time a president federalized a state’s National Guard without the cooperation of a governor.

Three Federal Guard mobilizations were in response to the riots: in Detroit in 1967; in several cities in 1968 after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; and in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the police officers who had attacked Rodney King, a black motorist.

Another federal mobilization was in response to a strike by postal service workers in New York in 1970, and another was intended to restore order in the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Have national deployments ever gone wrong?

Yes.

In 1970, the mobilization of Guard troops by Governor James A. Rhodes, Republican of Ohio, ended tragically when troops opened fire on students peacefully demonstrating against the Vietnam War on the campus of Kent State University. Soldiers killed four students and injured nine unarmed protesters, all aged in their 20s.

Neither the governor nor any of the guards who shot the students were found criminally responsible for the shootings.

How many Guard troops are currently mobilized at the federal level?

The exact number is unclear.

According to the National Guard Bureau, its troops can conduct dozens of federal missions at any given time, including “disaster relief, defense support of civil authorities, training missions” and “community engagement.”

The office on Monday referred questions about the number of troops currently deployed on orders from the president to the armed component of U.S. Northern Command, which then referred questions to the office of the secretary of Defense.

The Defense Secretary’s press office on Tuesday referred those questions to the Guard task force in Washington, D.C., and to a U.S. Northern Command website for what it calls the “federal protection mission” in the United States.

Here’s what we know: In June, 2,000 members of the California National Guard were mobilized in Los Angeles to quell anti-immigration protests. In July, Mr. Trump authorized the deployment of Guard troops to immigration centers in 20 states.

In August, Mr. Trump federalized local policing in Washington and mobilized troops to fight crime, even though violent crime was declining in the city. Later that month, he ordered the Defense Ministry to create a mobile guard unit that could be sent anywhere in the country to “ensure public security and order.”

In September, the president signed an executive order authorizing the use of the National Guard in Memphis and said he would consider similar deployments to Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans.

As of October 1, nearly 2,200 Guard troops remained deployed in Washington, including more than 950 from the Washington, DC National Guard. The majority of troops patrolling the capital are normally based in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.

On Sunday evening, a federal judge blocked Mr. Trump from sending California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. Texas National Guard troops arrived in the Chicago area Tuesday and are expected to be deployed by Wednesday.

Are Federally Ordered Guard Troops Still Being Paid During Government Shutdown?

The National Guard receives state and federal funding, but troops are paid by their state legislatures when mobilized by governors. Those under federal mandate will not be paid until funding from Congress is restored.