For at least two weeks, National Guard troops won’t be allowed to patrol the streets of Chicago after a judge blocked their deployment Thursday, citing no significant evidence of a “danger of rebellion.”
The Trump administration has, however, filed an appeal to that ruling.
The decision from U.S. District Judge April Perry was in response to a lawsuit filed this week by Chicago and Illinois and marked a temporary win for the city and state’s Democratic leaders. It comes as President Donald Trump works to move troops into major urban areas, arguing they have a rampant crime crisis, despite statistics not always backing that up. Troops were expected to start patrolling Friday in Tennessee, and a court battle continued over Trump’s plans to deploy them in Portland, Oregon.
But what will happen to the hundreds of troops already in Illinois, including a small number outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, remained unclear.
In U.S. District Judge April Perry’s ruling, she said the administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection.
The judge said the order would expire Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. She set an Oct. 22 hearing by telephone to determine if the order should be extended for another 14 days.
State and city leaders celebrated the decision, including Gov. JB Pritzker, who said: “The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago.”
In a statement, a White House spokesperson said they plan to take to the case to higher courts.
“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets. President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities and we expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Perry heard arguments in a crowded downtown Chicago courtroom from attorneys for the state of Illinois and the Justice Department.
She pressed Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton on whether National Guard troops would only be stationed around federal buildings or also in neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. Hamilton responded that troops also could be used to “protect ICE agents” in the field.
Trump, meanwhile, has portrayed Chicago as a lawless “hellhole” of crime, though statistics show a significant recent drop in crime.
Perry referenced Alexander Hamilton in condemning the president’s actions.
“(The founders) would never believe that it would ever come to pass that one state militia could be sent to another state for the purposes of political retribution,” she said.
Officials at U.S. Northern Command directed questions to the Department of Defense, which declined to comment citing a policy that the department doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
It marks the second major ruling surrounding Chicago immigration enforcement.
In a separate hearing, federal agents were ordered — temporarily — by a federal judge to wear badges and were banned from using certain riot control weapons against peaceful protesters and journalists outside the Broadview ICE facility.
The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis restricts agents’ use of force, including pepper balls, rubber bullets and physical force such as pulling, shoving or tackling against protesters and journalists who don’t pose a serious threat to law enforcement.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump both defended the decision to federalize the National Guard during a press availability Wednesday.
“(We’re doing this to) keep our federal officers safe, to keep our federal buildings safe, (and) we’re not gonna have it any more from these thugs,” Bondi said.
Perry, a President Biden appointee, was at first his nominee for U.S. attorney in Illinois, but that confirmation blocked by then-Sen. J.D. Vance. She was instead appointed to the Chicago federal bench.
Perry said a full written decision would be issued Friday.
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