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Greetings and welcome to the current updates in American political affairs. We start with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has begun guarding government facilities in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Deployment Details

An unit of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on background basis in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been made public.

The troops are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command stated publicly.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for 60 days. The official wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.

Background Situation

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

"The city's mayor should be in prison for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments come as national guard troops have begun arriving in the Chicago area at the direction of the Trump administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.

Other Updates

• The president announced that the conflicting parties have agreed to a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was praised by Republican lawmakers, who urged Trump to be given the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
• During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and referred to his homeland security secretary. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the core legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the witnesses who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called political content creators. The influencers cover liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more akin to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• Senate Republicans rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party tried to oppose the administration's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been murdered by political extremists in the Oregon city. The accurate count of killings by political activists in Portland is: one.