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National Guard soldiers started patrolling memphis, tennesseeOn Friday, even after judges blocked the President donald trumpPlans to deploy troops to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in other states.
Soldiers dressed in guard fatigues and protective jackets, with guns in holsters, patrolled a Bass Pro Shops store at the Pyramid, a Memphis landmark along the Mississippi River. The patrolmen – part of Trump’s federal task force, were escorted by a Memphis police officer.
The Associated Press saw at least nine Guard members on Friday, but it was not clear how many total troops were on the ground in Memphis or expected to arrive later.
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the deployment of troops chicago For at least two weeks, citing no significant evidence of “insurgency threat”.
Trump has insisted that crime is rampant in Chicago, Portland, Oregon and other Democrat-led cities and requires federal intervention to bring them under control, despite statistics not always supporting his claims.
A similar troop deployment to Portland has been delayed due to a separate court battle in Oregon.
Here are the things:
Violent crime is a problem in Memphis
Trump announced on September 15 that he intended to deploy the Guard to Memphis. At the time, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, adopted the plan as part of broader law enforcement actions in the city.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat who did not request the deployment, said he and other officials hoped the task force would target violent criminals rather than intimidate, harass or threaten residents.
The city has recorded high rates of violent crime for years, including assaults, carjackings and murders. Although this year’s data shows improvement in many categories, including murder, violence remains a problem.
Federal officials say agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE and the U.S. Marshals 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
Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to several cities, including Portland; baltimore; Memphis, Tennessee; District of Columbia; new Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
The Republican president’s plans to deploy troops to Chicago are currently on hold due to a legal challenge.
U.S. District Judge April Perry in Chicago ruled Thursday that 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 into the city.
Perry said his order would expire at 11:59 p.m. on October 23 and a telephone hearing would be scheduled for October 22 to determine whether the order should be extended for another 14 days.
State and city leaders celebrated the verdict, including Governor JB Pritzker, who said: “The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of an insurrection in the state of Illinois. And there is no place for the National Guard on the streets of American cities like Chicago.”
Officials with U.S. Northern Command referred questions to the Defense Department, which declined to comment because it is barred from commenting on ongoing litigation.
Soldiers arrive in Illinois and patrol outside Chicago
Guard members from Texas and Illinois arrived this week at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. All 500 are under the US Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days.
A small number slept in vans outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Wednesday night and began patrolling behind the portable fence on Thursday morning. There have been occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents at the ICE site over the past several weeks.
Judge bans federal agents from using force
Also on 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.
Judge Sarah Ellis’ preliminary injunction prohibits agents’ use of force, including pepper balls, rubber bullets and physical force such as pulling, pushing or tackling, on protesters and journalists who do not pose a serious threat to law enforcement.
The order covers all of northern Illinois and also requires federal agents to wear “visible identification” such as badges, a topic of heated debate as viral footage has emerged of masked, plainclothes officers involved in immigration enforcement in several US cities.
A lawsuit filed by a coalition of news outlets, media unions and protesters accuses ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol of launching a campaign of violence and intimidation against peaceful protesters and journalists during weeks of protests outside the Broadview facility.
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Associated Press journalists across the United States contributed, including Adrian Saenz 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 Bock and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, DC