The Illinois National Guard Joint Force Headquarters was informed on Tuesday that the Texas National Guard will provide security for the Broadview ICE facility starting Wednesday "evening," but no further details were provided.
Operations were starting to unfold Wednesday at the Army Reserve Training center in the southwest suburb of Elwood as the National Guard prepares for deployment.
Meanwhile, anti-federal deployment protesters held a rally Wednesday evening downtown Chicago before marching on city streets and impacting traffic.
The Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Office referred all questions about the deployment to the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM).
"Since this a federal activation, troops are placed on Title 10 orders and fall under NORTHCOM," an Illinois National Guard spokesperson told the I-Team via email.
NORTHCOM did not respond to the I-Team's questions about the Broadview deployment.
"The heavily-armed Texas troops will be sent to the ICE processing facility in Broadview, converting that building into a military fortress, within shooting distance of Broadview residents' homes and businesses," a statement to residents from Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson read in part. "The Texas National Guard's military occupation in Broadview will be rooted in the historic intimidation of African-American communities by government officials waving guns in our faces. The governor of Texas and the President want to sow fear in American citizens and Broadview residents, even while describing their military occupation as 'protection.' I understand how unsettling this is for you and your families and for those Americans who come to Broadview to stand for justice, the true patriots."
Nearly 500 total National Guard Troops arrived to the Chicago area on Tuesday, according to a press release from the Pentagon. About 200 soldiers from Texas and about 300 from Illinois were "activated into a Title 10 status."
The Pentagon said the troops were mobilized for 60 days. They were sent to "protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal function."
Some could be used to guard the Broadview ICE facility, but demonstrators have said it won't stop them from protesting.
Protesters march through downtown Chicago
Organizations, including the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, held a demonstration in downtown Chicago on Wednesday evening.
Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters march through downtown Chicago
A sea of picket signs filled downtown, demanding the Trump administration put an end to its escalated immigration crackdown before taking those same calls to the street.
Hundreds marched through evening traffic with one goal and one voice.
Concern continues to mount for many in the Chicago area with the National Guard now ordered to protect federal agents during the intensified immigration enforcement under President Trump.
"It's just terrifying, and I, myself, could be targeted," anti-ICE demonstrator Leonardo Jimenez said. "I don't want to have to carry my passport around."
The demonstration started inside Congress Plaza Garden near Ida B. Wells and Michigan.
Chicago Ald. Jesse Fuentes spoke to the crowd just days after video showed Fuentes being briefly detained by federal agents as immigration officers were apparently seeking to make an arrest at Humboldt Park Hospital.
"What we are seeing is an administration that is sending troops in to scare us into silence, to punish descents, and we will not allow that here in the City of Chicago," Ald. Fuentes said.
Demonstrators took their calls to Trump Tower, promising to continue their fight until federal agents and the National Guard are called out of Illinois.
Trump calls out Pritzker, Johnson
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker "should be in jail for failing to protect" federal agents.
Trump made the Truth Social post as United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has surged operations in Chicago.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!" Trump said in the social media post.
Pritzker responded on social media saying he "will not back down."
He also said at a government shutdown Wednesday, "(Trump is) demented, literally, unhinged. This is someone that is so insecure that he lashes out, pretending that he can come arrest people for no reason at all. He can't. He isn't gonna do it. TACO. Trump always chickens out."
'Trump always chickens out,' Pritzker says to media
Johnson said he is "not going anywhere."
Texas National Guard members stationed in Elwood
ABC7 Chicago captured Texas National Guard members at the Army Reserve training center in southwest suburban Elwood on Wednesday. The troops were identified to be from Texas by a shoulder patch with the letter "T."
People living near the facility stopped by Wednesday to see what's going on as some of them say they're worried about the U.S. military being used in this way.
TX National Guard expected to deploy to Broadview Wednesday: Sources
"Communities aren't letting ice just get away with it anymore so now it feels like they can declare martial law and say the military is here now that you're so unruly, but really it's ICE fomenting all the distrust and fear and terror in our community," nearby resident Adam Ehlers said.
Another man living in the area named Sean says the immigration enforcement is what he voted for.
"I think what Trump is doing is an awesome job," Sean said. "I think we need the national guard in Chicago, and I think we need mass deportation."
Pritzker said that his office has been left in the dark through the federalization of troops from Illinois.
After Johnson declared parts of Chicago ICE-free zones, Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino said, "There is no sanctuary here in Chicago."
Although Trump cites crime as his reasoning for mobilizing the military, CPD data shows the murder rate is in fact falling.
The ABC7 Chicago data team analyzed crime data from the Chicago Police Department. According to that data, there have been 458 murders in the past 12 months. That's down nearly 30% from the yearly average of the prior three years.
There is a court hearing scheduled for Thursday regarding lawsuits from the city of Chicago and the state to block the deployment of the National Guard. A judge initially urged the federal government to hold off on that.