A federal appeals court on Saturday partially restored President Trump's control of the National Guard in Chicago and across Illinois, but prevented him from being able to actually deploy servicemembers in the Prairie State.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit granted the Trump administration's request for an administrative stay in part, meaning the president is allowed to federalize the National Guard in Illinois. The appeals court, however, denied the administration's request to be able to deploy the National Guard. Unless further ordered by the court to do so, troops do not need to return to their home states, the order also reads.
U.S. District Judge April Perry, an appointee of former President Biden, previously blocked the administration's use of the National Guard on Thursday. Illinois and Chicago leaders, including Gov. JB Pritzker (D), had filed a lawsuit on Monday over what Pritzker called "an “unconstitutional invasion of Illinois by the federal government.”
“Donald Trump is not a king — and his administration is not above the law,” he said in a statement on the social platform X after Perry’s previous decision on Thursday.
Perry had also previously granted Illinois and Chicago officials’ request for a temporary restraining order, preventing Trump from taking over National Guard troops and sending them across the state after some troops were ordered to patrol around Chicago.
Around 300 federalized Illinois National Guard members and around 200 troops from Texas were deployed to the Chicago area on Wednesday night, according to the military unit commanding them. They have been activated for 60 days.
The aim of the National Guard in Chicago is to “to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property,” U.S. Northern Command said in a statement late Wednesday.
Perry's decision on Saturday mirrors U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut's Wednesday decision regarding Trump's moves with the National Guard in Portland, Ore.
“The effect of granting an administrative stay preserves the status quo in which National Guard members have been federalized but not deployed,” a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit wrote in a brief order.
Senate Republicans questioned the president's use of the National Guard to crack down on crime, asking about what it meant for states' rights and presidential authority.
“I worry about someday a Democrat president sending troops or National Guard from New York, California, Oregon, Washington state to North Carolina," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said. "I think it’s bad precedent."
Source: The Hill - News
