Texas National Guard troops now protecting federal property in Chicago area, official says

CHICAGO (AP) — A small number of National Guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

An “element” of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Northern Command, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details not been made public. The troops are in the city to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn’t able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.

A lawsuit and Democratic leaders have vigorously fought the deployment, and a hearing is set for Thursday.

In Memphis, a small group of troops were helping Wednesday with the Memphis Safe Task Force, said a state Military Department spokesperson who did not specify the exact role or number of the Guard members. The task force is a collection of about a dozen federal law enforcement agencies ordered by President Donald Trump to fight crime.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has welcomed the Guard, has said previously that he would not expect more than 150 Guard members to be sent to the city.

President Donald Trump’s administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, and protesters have frequently rallied at an ICE building in Broadview.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis signaled Wednesday that she planned to restrict federal agents from using certain crowd control tactics, such as tear gas, against peaceful protesters and journalists who have regularly gathered at the Broadview building.

Trump has been emphatic in sending the Guard to Democratic-run cities that he argues have a rampant crime crisis, though statistics don’t always back that up.

Elsewhere, an appeals court has scheduled a hearing the same day over the government’s desire to send the Guard to Portland, Oregon. A judge blocked that effort over the weekend.

The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

“This is about authoritarianism. It’s about stoking fear,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “It’s about breaking the Constitution that would give him that much more control over our American cities.”

In Portland, an ICE facility in the city has been the site of nightly protests for months, peaking in June when police declared a riot, with smaller clashes since then. Federal officials had requested that the city set up “free speech zones” for demonstrators and ensure agents’ access to the building with a perimeter, which was in place for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit on Tuesday.

Mayor Keith Wilson told the Department of Homeland Security that the city “commits to peacefully facilitating free speech” and that police will “continue to evaluate the situation on the ground.”

Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Laura Bargfeld in Elwood, Illinois, Ed White in Detroit, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Hallie Golden in Seattle, contributed to this story.

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)

People relax on a street outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators stand outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Protesters confront federal law enforcement officers outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, center, stands on the roof of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, Oct. 7, 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, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

CARACAS (AP) — Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado demonstrated Saturday in several cities worldwide to commemorate her Nobel Peace Prize win ahead of the prestigious award ceremony next week.

Dozens of people marched through Madrid, Utrecht and other cities in support of Machado, whose organization wants to use the attention gained by the award to highlight Venezuela ’s democratic aspirations. The organization expected demonstrations in more than 80 cities around the world on Saturday.

The gatherings come at a critical point in the country’s protracted crisis as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump builds up a massive military deployment in the Caribbean, threatening repeatedly to strike Venezuelan soil. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is among those who see the operation as an effort to end his hold on power, and the opposition has only added to this perception by reigniting its promise to soon govern the country.

“We are living through times where our composure, our conviction, and our organization are being tested,” Machado said in a video message shared Tuesday on social media. “Times when our country needs even more dedication because now all these years of struggle, the dignity of the Venezuelan people, have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Machado won the award Oct. 10 for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

Machado, 58, won the opposition’s primary election and intended to run against Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González, who had never run for office before, took her place.

The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. It all increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.

González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Meanwhile, Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in what ended up being an underwhelming protest in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, the day before his inauguration for a third term, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)