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.
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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)
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)
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile's ultra-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast secured a stunning victory in the presidential election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the center-left governing coalition and setting the stage for the country's most right-wing government in 35 years of democracy.
Kast won 58.2% of the votes as Chileans overwhelmingly embraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status and revive the sluggish economy of one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations.
His challenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara, clinched 41.8% of the vote. She called Kast to concede the election and congratulate him on his successful campaign after his lead became irreversible. Kast's supporters erupted into cheers in the street, shouting his name and honking horns.
“Democracy spoke loud and clear,” Jara, who served as labor minister in the center-left government of President Gabriel Boric, wrote on social media.
Speaking at a public square in downtown Santiago, Chile's capital, she encouraged her supporters not to be deterred by the outcome. “It is in defeat that we learn the most,” she said.
Kast was declared the winner less than two hours after polls closed. His campaign spokesman, Arturo Squella, struck a solemn tone, saying that the party feels “very responsible for the tremendous challenge of taking charge of the crises that Chile is going through.”
Chileans are not alone in their demand for radical change.
Kast’s election represents the latest in a string of votes that have turfed out incumbent governments across Latin America, vaulting right-wing leaders to power from Argentina to Bolivia as U.S. President Donald Trump looks to assert American dominance in the Western Hemisphere, in many cases punishing rivals and rewarding allies.
The Trump administration was among the first to congratulate Kast on his victory.
“Under his leadership, we are confident Chile will advance shared priorities to include strengthening public security, ending illegal immigration and revitalizing our commercial relationship,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“The United States looks forward to working closely with his administration to deepen our partnership and promote shared prosperity in our hemisphere.”
The victory for Kast signaled a new era for Chile, representing the first radical right-wing president since the country returned democracy in 1990, following the bloody dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Centrist parties on the right and the left have largely alternated power in the decades since.
On the surface, the two candidates in this tense presidential runoff could not have been more different, fundamentally disagreeing on weighty matters of the economy, social issues and the very purpose of government.
A lifelong member of Chile’s Communist Party who pioneered popular social welfare measures in Boric’s government and hails from a working-class family that protested against Pinochet's 1973-1990 military dictatorship, Jara was a dramatic foil to her rival.
Kast, in contrast, is a devout Catholic and father of nine whose German-born father was a registered member of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party and whose brother served as a minister in the dictatorship.
Kast's moral conservatism, including fierce opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion without exception, was rejected by many in the increasingly socially liberal country during his past two failed presidential bids.
But throughout Boric's tenure, fears about uncontrolled illegal migration and unprecedented organized crime roiled the country, dominating this election and fueling support for a hard-line approach to insecurity.
Today his supporters run the gamut, including business people enthused about his free-market instincts, middle-class families scared of venturing out at night for fear of carjackings and extreme right-wing activists who glorify the military dictatorship.
Among those waiting for Kast to speak late Sunday after his victory were young Chileans holding up framed photos of Pinochet.
Presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast, of the opposition Republican Party, and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola wave to supporters after winning the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Presidential candidate Jeannette Jara, of the ruling Unity for Chile coalition, addresses supporters after conceding to Jose Antonio Kast, of the opposition Republican Party, in the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Supporters hold a portrait of Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate of the opposition Republican Party, after results show hime leading in the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Supporters of Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate of the opposition Republican Party, celebrate preliminary results after polls closed for a presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Supporters react to early results at the campaign headquarters of Jeannette Jara, presidential candidate of the ruling Unity for Chile coalition, in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jeannette Jara, presidential candidate of the ruling Unity for Chile coalition, speaks after voting during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Supporters of Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate of the opposition Republican Party, celebrate preliminary results after polls closed for a presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate for the Republican Party, waves after voting in the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Voters arrive to a polling stating during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Jeannette Jara, presidential candidate of the ruling Unity for Chile coalition, shows her ballot during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate for the Republican Party, prepares to vote during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate for the Republican Party, arrives to vote during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A voter casts his ballot during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Luis Soto prepares to vote in the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Richard Ferreira, a Venezuelan residing in Chile, waits for polls to open during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Police guard the Mapocho station polling station during the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Presidential candidate Jeannette Jara of the Unidad por Chile coalition addresses supporters during a rally ahead of the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A man cycles past campaign ads for presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast and Argentina's President Javier Milei reading in Spanish "Our future is in danger" ahead of the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party addresses supporters, from behind a protective glass panel, during a rally ahead of the runoff election in Temuco, Chile, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A campaign banner reads in Spanish "Neither Jara nor Kast will make our lives better, don't vote, rebel and fight" ahead of the presidential runoff election in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Presidential candidates Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party and Jeannette Jara of the Unity for Chile coalition shake hands during a debate ahead of runoff elections in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
