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Greetings and welcome to the current updates in US politics. We start with the news that a limited contingent of state military forces has begun guarding government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Deployment Details

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.

The troops are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command said online.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been deployed for 60 days. The official wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the troops were armed.

Background Situation

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

"The city's mayor should be in prison for not protecting Ice Officers!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have begun arriving in the Chicago area at the direction of the federal administration, despite objections from state authorities, including the governor and mayor.

Other Updates

• The president announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and detained persons.
• News of the Gaza agreement was praised by GOP legislators, who called on Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and referred to Kristi Noem. In May, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate definition of the fundamental legal concept 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 "political discussion" organized by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The influencers cover liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more akin to political investigation than nonpartisan reporting.
• Senate Republicans voted down a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's authority to use deadly military force against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to oppose the government's unprecedented deployment of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• 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 correct number of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.