A judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the deployment of the national guard in Chicago in a much-anticipated ruling about efforts by the Trump administration to use troops to help enforce immigration policy and also battle what it says are high crime rates.
During arguments about the case, lawyers for the state of Illinois had called the sending of national guard soldiers to the city – which was opposed by Chicago and state political leaders – a constitutional crisis.
The government “plowed ahead anyway”, attorney Christopher Wells said. “Now, troops are here.” Chicago and Illinois, run by Democratic elected leaders, say Trump has exceeded his authority and ignored their pleas to keep the national guard off the streets.
Meanwhile, Eric Hamilton, a justice department lawyer, said the Chicago area was rife with “tragic lawlessness”.
“Chicago is seeing a brazen new form of hostility from rioters targeting federal law enforcement,” Hamilton said. “They’re not protesters. There is enough that there is a danger of a rebellion here, which there is.”
National guard members from Texas and Illinois arrived this week at a US army reserve center in Elwood, south-west of Chicago. All 500 national guard members are under the US northern command and have been activated for 60 days.
Earlier this week, Trump said Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois governor JB Pritzker should be jailed for failing to protect federal agents during immigration enforcement crackdowns.
Two dozen other states with a Democratic attorney general or governor have signed an appeals court filing in support of the legal challenge by California – and also one in the Portland, Oregon, where a similar troop deployment is also being challenged.
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.
Trump previously sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington DC. In Memphis, Tennessee, Paul Young, the city’s mayor, said national guard members would begin patrolling on Friday. Bill Lee, Tennessee’s Republican governor, supports using the troops.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
