What to know about National Guard deployments in Memphis and other cities
By The Associated Press
National Guard troops started patrolling in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday, even after judges stalled President Donald Trump’s plans to deploy troops to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in other states.
The troops, dressed in Guard fatigues and protective vests, with guns in their holsters, patrolled at a Bass Pro Shops store and a nearby tourist welcome center beside the Mississippi River. They were escorted by a Memphis police officer. It was unclear how many troops have been deployed to Memphis.
Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to many cities, including Chicago; Portland, Oregon; Baltimore; Memphis, Tennessee; the District of Columbia; New Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Here’s where things stand:
Violent crime a problem in Memphis
Trump announced Sept. 15 that he intended to deploy the Guard to Memphis, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, embraced the plan to bolster law enforcement operations there.
Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat who did not request the deployment, said he hopes the task force will target violent offenders rather than scare, harass or intimidate residents.
Federal officials say agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE and the U.S. Marshal’s service have made hundreds of arrests and issued more than 2,800 traffic citations since the task force began operating in Memphis on Sept. 29.
Illinois deployment blocked
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the deployment of troops in Chicago for at least two weeks.
U.S. District Judge April Perry in Chicago said the Trump administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection, when he ordered National Guard troops to the city.
Perry said her order would expire Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. and set an Oct. 22 hearing by telephone to determine if the order should be extended for another 14 days.
“The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.
Officials at U.S. Northern Command directed questions to the Department of Defense, which declined to comment.
Another court battle in Oregon earlier delayed a similar troop deployment to Portland.
Troops patrol outside Chicago
Guard members from Texas and Illinois arrived this week at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. All 500 are under the U.S. Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days.
They started patrolling Thursday morning behind portable fences outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, where there have been occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents.
A federal judge late Thursday ordered ICE to remove a separate 8-foot-tall fence outside the Broadview facility after the Village of Broadview said the fence illegally blocks a public street.
Also Thursday, another federal judge in Illinois temporarily ordered federal agents to wear badges and banned them from using certain riot control weapons against peaceful protesters and journalists outside the Broadview facility, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago.
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Associated Press reporters across the U.S. contributed, including Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; 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, D.C.
