A federal judge’s order halting National Guard deployment in Chicago remains in place after the Trump administration consented to a 30-day extension.
Photo: Capitol News Illinois/Andrew Adams
A group of people in military fatigues walks into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Thursday, Oct. 9. National Guard troops were deployed to the facility earlier in the day. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
by Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinois
CHICAGO - A federal judge’s order blocking the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Chicago will remain in place indefinitely, setting up a possible trial when the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the case.
Quick look
- Deployment of the National Guard in Illinois will remain blocked indefinitely after the Trump administration on Wednesday proposed extending U.S. District Judge April Perry’s temporary restraining order until final judgment in the case.
- The agreement follows the administration’s emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on late last week asking the justices to stay U.S. District Judge April Perry’s Oct. 9 restraining order.
- It’s unclear how quickly the high court might weigh in on the matter, but after a Supreme Court ruling, the case could head to an expedited trial or other accelerated hearing that would result in a final judgment.
- The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the part of Perry’s ruling blocking the deployment of the National Guard, writing that “political opposition is not rebellion.” But the Trump administration argues that a president’s military actions are not subject to judicial review.
Appeal to SCOTUS
In its filing to the Supreme Court, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued the judicial branch has no right to “second guess” a president’s judgment on national security matters or resulting military actions. The administration maintains National Guard deployment is necessary to protect federal immigration agents and property from protesters. “A federal district court lacks not only the authority but also the competence to wrest control of the military chain of command from the Commander in Chief,” he wrote. Lawyers for the state of Illinois shot back in its own filing Monday, citing two U.S. Supreme Court decisions from the last century, including one “invalidating presidential seizure of steel mills during the Korean War.” “Furthermore, ‘federal courts are fully empowered to consider’ claims ‘resulting from military intrusion into the civilian sector,’” lawyers in Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office wrote, citing a 1972 decision. “There are numerous indications that the questions presented here ... fall within this duty.” President Donald Trump’s Oct. 4 order to federalize, or take control of, 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, along with the deployment of 200 Texas guardsmen and another 16 troops from California, has been blocked since Perry’s Oct. 9 ruling. Perry heard hours of arguments earlier this month, culminating in her temporary restraining order. The judge said the Department of Justice’s arguments of violence added to a “growing body of evidence that (Department of Homeland Security’s) version of events are unreliable” as the administration’s narrative about “violent” protests in Chicago differed so strongly from the accounts of state and local law enforcement. Perry also found there was “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois.” The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals backed up Perry last week, with a three-judge panel writing in an opinion published Thursday that “political opposition is not rebellion.” Read more: Judge calls feds ‘unreliable,’ temporarily blocks National Guard deployment to Illinois | Former military leaders decry National Guard deployment in Illinois The three-judge appeals panel did stay the portion of Perry’s order blocking the administration from federalizing National Guard troops. But the administration accused the 7th circuit of “judicially micromanaging the exercise of the President’s Commander-in-Chief powers” as the appellate judges still sided with Perry on the actual deployment of guardsmen.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 22 in which the Trump administration suggested extending U.S. District Judge April Perry’s temporary restraining order indefinitely until there’s a final judgment in the case — a longer timeline than the 30 days the administration had agreed to in an Oct. 21 filing.
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