National Guard troops are positioned outside Chicago and they could be in Memphis by Friday as the Trump administration pushes ahead with an aggressive policy toward big-city crime whether local leaders support it or not.

National Guard members from Texas had settled in at an Army Reserve centre in Illinois by early Wednesday, despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders. Their exact mission was not clear, though the Trump administration has an aggressive immigration operation in the nation's third-largest city, and protesters have frequently rallied at an immigration building outside Chicago in Broadview.

The president has called Chicago a "hell hole" of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in most crimes — including homicides.

In Memphi

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