What to know about National Guard deployments in Chicago and other cities

For at least two weeks, National Guard troops won't be allowed to patrol the streets of Chicago after a judge blocked their deployment Thursday, citing no significant evidence of a “danger of rebellion.”

The decision in response to a lawsuit filed this week by Chicago and Illinois was a temporary win for the city and state's Democratic leaders. It comes as President Donald Trump works to move troops into major urban areas, arguing they have a rampant crime crisis, despite statistics not always backing that up. Troops were expected to start patrolling Friday in Tennessee, and a court battle continued over Trump's plans to deploy them in Portland, Oregon.

But what will happen to the hundreds of troops already in Illinois, including a small number outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, remained unclear.

Here's where things stand:

In U.S. District Judge April Perry's ruling, she said the administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection.

The judge said the order would expire Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. She set an Oct. 22 hearing by telephone to determine if the order should be extended for another 14 days.

State and city leaders celebrated the decision, including Gov. JB Pritzker, who said: “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."

Officials at U.S. Northern Command directed questions to the Department of Defense, which declined to comment citing a policy that the department doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

Perry heard arguments in a crowded downtown Chicago courtroom from attorneys for the state of Illinois and the Justice Department.

She 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.

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

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.

Guard members from Texas and Illinois had 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.

A small number slept in vans Wednesday night outside the Broadview building and started patrolling the next morning behind portable fences. There have been occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents at the ICE site over the last several weeks.

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.

Federal agents have been ordered — temporarily — by another federal judge to wear badges and are banned from using certain riot control weapons against peaceful protesters and journalists outside an Chicago-area ICE facility.

A preliminary injunction issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis restricts agents’ use of force, including pepper balls, rubber bullets and physical force such as pulling, shoving or tackling against protesters and journalists who don’t pose a serious threat to law enforcement.

Ellis’ order covers all of northern Illinois and also requires federal agents to wear “visible identification” such as badges, the subject of heated debate as viral footage has surfaced of masked, plainclothes officers carrying out immigration enforcements in several U.S. cities.

Filed by a coalition of news outlets, media associations and protesters — including the Illinois Press Association, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Headline Club — the lawsuit accuses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol of unleashing a campaign of violence and intimidation against peaceful protesters and journalists during weeks of protests outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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.

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.

Police and federal officers stand guard on the roof of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

Police and federal officers stand guard on the roof of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Protesters stand and chant in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, after protesters learned that U.S. Border Patrol shot a woman Saturday morning on Chicago's Southwest Side. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

A protester yells at police and federal officers during a protest at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore. on Sunday, October. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Police and federal officers stand guard on the roof of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Police and Federal officers stand guard an area by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore. on Sunday, October. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Federal agents line a driveway as people protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

People film as federal agents walk into the street during a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Federal agents walk into the street as people protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Federal officers hold down a protestor in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, after protesters learned that U.S. Border Patrol shot a woman Saturday morning on Chicago's Southwest Side. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Protestors create a line to maintain distance between ICE officers and protestors in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, after protesters learned that U.S. Border Patrol shot a woman Saturday morning on Chicago's Southwest Side. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

A federal officer stands guard in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, after protesters learned that U.S. Border Patrol shot a woman Saturday morning on Chicago's Southwest Side. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection walk along West Wacker Drive in the Loop, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Pedestrians yell at federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection as they walk along North Clark Street near West Oak Street in the River North neighborhood, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Pedestrians yell at federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection as they stand on North Clark Street at West Oak Street in River North, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection cross North Clark Street at West Oak Street in River North, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection walk north on North Clark Street in the River North neighborhood, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Chicagp. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

When President Donald Trump suspended the refugee program on day one of his current administration, thousands of people around the world who'd been so close to a new life in America found themselves abandoned.

As part of Trump's crackdown on legal and illegal migration, the Republican president has upended the decades-old refugee program that has served as a beacon for those fleeing war and persecution. In October, he resumed the program but set a historic low of refugee admissions at 7,500 — mostly white South Africans.

New restrictions were announced after an Afghan national became the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members last week. The Trump administration also plans a review of refugees let in during the Democratic Biden administration. Trump's administration has cited economic and national security concerns for its policy changes.

About 600,000 people were being processed to come to the U.S. as refugees when the program was halted, according to the administration. Aside from dozens of white South Africans let in this year, only about 100 others have been admitted as a result of a lawsuit by advocates seeking to restore the refugee program, said Mevlüde Akay Alp, a lawyer arguing the case.

The Associated Press spoke to three families whose lives have been thrown into disarray because of the changing policies.

The Dawoods fled civil war in Syria and settled in northern Iraq. They hoped to find a new home that could provide better medical care for a daughter who had fallen from the fourth floor of the family’s apartment building.

After they were accepted as refugees to the U.S., son Ibrahim and his sister Ava relocated to Connecticut in November 2024. His parents and one of his brothers were scheduled to fly in January.

But just two days before they were to board their flight, mother Hayat Fatah fainted at a medical check and her departure was postponed. Mohammed, another sibling, didn't want to leave his parents behind.

Nearly a year later, he and his parents are still waiting.

In America, Ibrahim wakes up early to tutor people online before going to his job as a math teacher at a private school, and then he takes care of his sister when he gets home. He said his mother often cries when they talk because she wishes she were in America to help care for her daughter.

Chinese Christian Lu Taizhi fled to Thailand more than a decade ago, fearing persecution for his beliefs. He’s lived in legal limbo since, waiting to be resettled in the United States.

Lu said he has long admired the U.S. for what he calls its Christian character — a place where he feels he and his family “can seek freedom.”

Lu was born into a family branded as “hostile elements” by the Chinese Communist Party for its land ownership and ties to a competing political party. A teacher and poet, Lu grew interested in history banned by the Chinese state, penning tributes to the bloody 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing.

In 2004, Lu was arrested after police found poems and essays he secretly published criticizing Chinese politics and the education system. After his release, Lu became a Christian and began preaching, drawing scrutiny from local authorities.

With Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s rise to power, controls tightened. When Beijing arrested hundreds of rights lawyers in 2015, Lu took his family and fled, settling in Thailand, where they applied for refugee status with the United Nations.

Eight years later, the U.N. notified Lu the U.S. had accepted his application. But after several delays, his most recent flight was canceled shortly after Trump’s inauguration. His application has been put on hold indefinitely.

Louis arrived in the United States as a refugee in September 2024. He left his wife and two children in East Africa, hoping they could soon be reunited in the U.S.

But that dream faded a few months later with Trump's return to the presidency.

Louis, who insisted on being identified only by his first name out of concern that speaking publicly could complicate his case, was told in January that a request he had made to bring his family to the U.S. had been frozen due to changes in refugee policies.

Now, the family members live thousands of miles apart without knowing when they will be reunited. His wife, Apolina, and the children, 2 and 3 years old, are in a refugee camp in Uganda. Louis is in Kentucky.

“I don’t want to lose her, and she does not want to lose me,” said Louis, who resettled in Kentucky with the help of the International Rescue Committee.

Louis and Apolina's families applied for refugee status after fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Louis' application, initiated by his parents, was approved, Apolina's, made separately by her parents, was not.

Apolina thought that, as the wife of a refugee, it would take her no more than one year to reunite with her husband, who now works in an appliance factory and has already applied for permanent residency.

The separation hasn’t been easy for her and the children, who live in a tent in the refugee camp.

Santana reported from Washington, Kang from Beijing and Salomon from Miami. Associated Press writers Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, and Salar Salim in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report.

Lu Taizhi, a Chinese Christian who is waiting to be resettled in the United States, points to the webpage of the International Rescue Committee, which is under maintenance and not operational in Ban Wawee village, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/ Tian Macleod Ji)

Syrian refugee Abdulilah Amin Dawoud, 73, poses for a picture at his home in Irbil, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)

Syrian refugee Hayat Fatah, 65, cleans dishes at her home in Irbil, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)

Syrian refugee Mohammed Dawood, 30, left, poses for a photo with his parents, Hayat Fatah, 65, center, and Abdulilah Amin Dawoud, 73, at their home in Irbil, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)