What to know about National Guard deployments in Chicago and Portland

Perry pressed Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton on whether National Guard troops would only be stationed around federal buildings or also in neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. Hamilton responded that troops also could be used to “protect ICE agents” in the field.

On Wednesday, 200 Texas Guard troops sent to Illinois started working in the Chicago area, according to a U.S. Northern Command spokesperson, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details not made public.

The spokesperson did not say where specifically the troops were sent.

Meanwhile, two dozen Democrat-led states have joined a legal challenge to National Guard deployment in Portland, Oregon.

Here are where things stand now:

Illinois deployment goes before a federal judge

The hearing before Perry was over a request to block the deployment of Illinois and Texas Guard members in Illinois.

Chicago and Illinois filed a lawsuit on Monday to stop the deployments, calling them unnecessary and illegal. In a court filing in the lawsuit, the city and state say protests at a temporary ICE detention facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview have “never come close to stopping federal immigration enforcement.”

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has portrayed Chicago as a lawless “hellhole” of crime, though statistics show a significant recent drop in crime.

Christopher Wells, a lawyer with the Illinois attorney general’s office, urged Perry to stop the deployment that “threatens the careful balance of our Constitutional system.”

Hamilton characterized Chicago as beset by what he called “tragic lawlessness,” noting a recent confrontation in which two residents were accused of using their vehicles to ram into and box in a Border Patrol vehicle. One person was shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson attended the hearing. He later told reporters that he would use every legal tool available to resist, whether that means turning to the courts or issuing executive orders.

“It’s going to take Black, brown, white, Asian folks from across this city and across this country to band together to send a clear message to Washington, D.C., that we will not be trampled on,” Johnson said.

Pope Leo speaks on behalf of immigrants, minorities

Pope Leo XIV urged labor union leaders visiting Rome from Chicago on Thursday to advocate for immigrants and welcome minorities into their ranks. Leo said that “while recognizing that appropriate policies are necessary to keep communities safe, I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable.”

The audience was scheduled before Wednesday’s deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area. The pope is a native of Chicago.

Democratic-led states join challenge to Portland deployment

Twenty-four states with a Democratic attorney general or governor signed on to a court filing Wednesday to support California and Oregon’s legal challenge to deploying the Guard in Portland.

Trump wants to send Guard troops to Portland to address ongoing protests at an immigration processing facility in Oregon's largest city, which he has called a “war zone.”

Troops have yet to be deployed there.

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.

Troops arrive near Chicago

The first Guard troops sent to Chicago by Trump arrived Tuesday at an Army training center outside the city. The AP 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, on Wednesday.

Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, 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.

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.

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.

The exact timing of National Guard activity in Memphis was murky. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the state Military Department said some Tennessee Guard members were already assisting with community safety patrols, security and traffic control, while a Thursday update on the city's website said Guard patrols were slated to begin Friday.

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 the ICE facility in Broadview, which sits about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago.

Associated Press reporters across the U.S. contributed, including Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Jack Brook in New Orleans; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Josh Boak and Konstantin Toropin in Washington.