Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch, were seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, in Elwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, center, stood on the roof of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon, also on Tuesday, October 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
People relaxed on a street outside the ICE facility that day in Portland, as demonstrators gathered outside the same location. (AP Photos/Ethan Swope)
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### Military Deployments and Political Tensions Amid ICE Facility Protests
The ongoing clash between President Donald Trump and Democratic-led cities is reaching a critical turning point. Active-duty troops are gathering near Chicago, while lawyers prepare for crucial court hearings taking place thousands of miles apart.
The Trump administration has linked planned military deployments in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, to the growing protests outside ICE facilities, as well as a recent shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas where two detainees were killed. President Trump characterized the shooting as an attack on law enforcement.
On Wednesday, President Trump intensified his criticism of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democratic Governor JB Pritzker. Both officials had described the National Guard mobilization as “Trump’s invasion” over the weekend.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In response, Mayor Johnson said Wednesday morning on X (formerly Twitter), “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
Governor Pritzker also replied, stating, “Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
Pritzker added, “Masked agents already are grabbing people off the street, separating children from their parents, creating fear.”
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### High-Level Administration Activity
The Trump administration’s commitment to a military response has been evident not only in court actions but also through frequent travel by its officials. FBI Director Kash Patel and Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche made a brief visit to Chicago on Tuesday, coinciding with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s trip to the Portland ICE office.
Secretary Noem had visited the Chicago ICE facility last week, shortly after multiple Cabinet members held a press conference in Memphis, Tennessee, promoting the upcoming National Guard deployment there.
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### Potential Use of the Insurrection Act
If pending court cases challenging the deployments do not succeed, President Trump has indicated he might override judicial decisions by invoking the Insurrection Act. This Act allows the deployment of troops within the United States under certain limited circumstances, serving as the largest exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits military involvement in domestic law enforcement.
“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, sure I do that.”
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### Status of National Guard Deployments
#### Chicago
Following a federal judge’s decision to delay ruling on whether to block the deployment, hundreds of National Guard troops are arriving at local training centers in the Chicago area. President Trump authorized 300 Illinois National Guard members for active duty in the city, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott has volunteered an additional 400 guardsmen from his state.
District Court Judge April Perry, nominated by President Biden last year, said earlier this week that she needed more time to consider the complex legal questions involved. Both parties must submit written arguments by the end of Wednesday, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday morning.
Mayor Johnson expressed concern about the situation. “The president of the United States of America is literally pitting law enforcement against law enforcement,” he said. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to be.”
#### Portland
In contrast, legal proceedings in Portland are moving swiftly. Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee who previously served on the Starr investigation, blocked the Oregon National Guard deployment on Saturday. When the White House responded by sending federalized California National Guard troops to Portland on Sunday, Judge Immergut expanded her ruling to halt all National Guard deployments in the state.
The case has moved to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has been asked by the White House to suspend Immergut’s order and permit the deployments. A hearing with a three-judge panel is scheduled for Thursday. The panel includes two Trump appointees and a Clinton appointee who was once an Oregon Supreme Court justice.
#### Memphis
In Memphis, the National Guard deployment is proceeding on a slower timeline due to logistical issues. “The Tennessee National Guard should be coming in the next few days or in the next week or so,” said Democratic Mayor Paul Young in an interview with CNN affiliate WATN on Tuesday.
Republican Governor Bill Lee is overseeing the National Guard deployment in Memphis, though the exact role of the troops remains undisclosed. A sizeable contingent of federal law enforcement agents is already operating in the city as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, which has made 386 arrests in just over a week. Of those arrests, more than 200 were categorized as “warrant pickups” or “administrative,” with two arrests related to homicide cases.
Despite political disagreements between local Democratic leaders and the Trump administration, as well as Republican state officials, Mayor Young emphasized cooperation. “It was something that the governor and the president decided, and as mayor of the city, it’s my job to make sure it’s coordinated well within our community,” he said.
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*CNN’s Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.*
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