One day after federalized members of the Texas National Guard arrived at the Joliet Area Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, security was increased around the facility, limiting visibility for the public and the media.

The Department of Defense on Tuesday confirmed that 200 troops from the Texas National Guard had arrived in Illinois after being federalized under the orders of President Donald Trump.

However, it was not confirmed how many of those troops have been stationed at the Elwood facility, which is being used to house the troops after Gov. JB Pritzker prohibited the Trump administration from using Illinois National Guard armories, including the facility in Joliet.

Members of the news media and the public were not allowed onto the Army Reserve property Tuesday, but had a clear view into the facility through a cyclone fence along Arsenal Road.

That changed Wednesday.

Temporary fencing was seen being erected along Arsenal Road on Tuesday afternoon, which now extends around the entire property down to Brandon Road and down to the tree along Brandon Road into a dense tree line.

Additionally, workers could be seen adding black plastic tarps to the permanent fencing Wednesday afternoon, reducing the ability of passing vehicles as well as members of the media and local residents to see activity on the base.

Armed guards were stationed at the main entrance of the base Wednesday, and Elwood police cars were parked at every access point to prevent civilians from entering the property.

The Elwood Police Department did not return The Herald-News’ requests for comment on its involvement in security.

Despite the lack of visibility, activity could be heard from Arsenal Road.

Shouts of soldiers running drills could be heard periodically, and groups of armed soldiers could occasionally be seen walking to and from the back of the property.

The new activity at the base has begun to draw public attention.

Several protesters were present on Arsenal Road on Wednesday, some holding signs and others hurling obscenities at military personnel.

“I’m angry,” protester Todd Gregory Schultz said. “I feel like I’ve been fighting against Donald Trump since I was 17.”

Schultz said he became engrossed in politics during Trump’s first term while undergoing treatment for leukemia. “Every day, I’d wake up in the hospital, open my phone and start looking at Twitter and the [Associated Press] to see what he was doing now. My mission in life at this point is to oppose him.”

“It’s scary,” said Adam Ehlers, a Manhattan resident who came out to Elwood to see what was happening.

“I live nearby. I drive past here all the time and I’ve never seen a single human soul on this campus until today,” said Ehlers. “Not once. I assumed the place was decommissioned. None of this fencing or these trucks have ever been here.”

Ehlers, who before living in Will County attended college in Portland, Oregon – another city the Trump administration is looking to place National Guard troops – said the mobilization of the Texas troops into Illinois “just doesn’t feel right.”

“I feel terrible this is happening in my own backyard,” he said, adding that he is even more bothered by the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“The National Guard isn’t really doing anything yet, but ICE is disappearing people in our cities while we argue about troops,” he said. “If only criminals were being rounded up, that would be understandable, but that’s not what’s happening. U.S. citizens have been arrested, and families, people are just being grabbed for having brown skin.”

Ehlers also said he hoped to see a strong response from Pritzker.

“I trust Pritzker, I always have,” he said. “But he was saying he wouldn’t let this happen, but I’m standing here and I see the National Guard here from Texas, so now what?”

The State of Illinois has filed suit in federal court to oppose the government sending troops from Texas into Illinois, but oral arguments in that case are not expected until Thursday.

It is unclear if the troops currently stationed in Elwood will be relocated before that case can be resolved.

The Herald-News reached out to U.S. Northern Command for information about plans for the National Guard Troops in Illinois, but did not receive a response.

North Comm’s website had no news releases about the operation available or more information beyond the defense department’s original statement.