Illinois leaders are waiting to see what's next with Trump's use of National Guard

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CHICAGO (AP) — The governor of Illinois said Wednesday he's still in the dark about where the Trump administration will send National Guard troops who have reported to an Army training site southwest of Chicago where extra fencing and tarps have gone up to block the public's view.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, sent barbs from Washington, saying on social media that Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago's mayor, both Democrats, “should be in jail” for failing to protect federal agents during immigration enforcement crackdowns.

Trump's threats to send troops to Illinois were fulfilled with the arrival this week of Texas National Guard members at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood. Their exact role has not yet been publicly disclosed, though the president, contrary to statistics, has repeatedly claimed big cities run by Democrats are overwhelmed with crime. An immigration enforcement building outside Chicago has also been the site of clashes between federal agents and protesters.

“The federal government has not communicated with us in any way about their troop movements,” Pritzker told reporters in Chicago. “I can’t believe I have to say 'troop movements’ in an American city, but that is what we’re talking about here.”

A judge will have a role in determining how many boots are on the streets: There's a court hearing Thursday on a request by Illinois and Chicago to declare the Guard deployment illegal. 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.

And in Memphis, Tennessee, the Guard could arrive by Friday, though the number of troops is unclear. Republican Gov. Bill Lee has welcomed it, saying they could assist police.

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.”

On Tuesday, a day before Trump talked about jailing Pritzker and Johnson, the governor mentioned such a scenario during an appearance in Minneapolis.

“I’m asking any of you to come visit me in the gulag,” Prizker told the audience, referring to the old Soviet labor camps.

In Portland, months of nightly protests at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility continued Tuesday night. In June, police declared a riot, and there have been smaller clashes since then.

Kristi Noem, head of the Department of Homeland Security, said on Fox News that her agency would send "four times the amount of federal officers” if the city did not boost security at the ICE building and take other safety measures.

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Associated Press reporters Laura Bargfeld in Elwood, Illinois, and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.