The state of Illinois and Chicago are suing the Trump administration over their plans to deploy the National Guard.
“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the lawsuit states in its introduction.
In the lawsuit, which names both the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago as plaintiffs, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul writes, “Defendants’ deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful.” He continues, “Plaintiffs ask this court to halt the illegal, dangerous, and unconstitutional federalization of members of the National Guard of the United States, including both the Illinois and Texas National Guard.”
Raoul is asking for a temporary restraining order, saying deployment will cause “additional unrest,” “mistrust of police” an dharm to the state’s economy.
Over the weekend, a federal memo obtained by CBS News revealed up to 300 members of the Illinois National Guard would be federalized and deployed to “protect federal property” and “government personnel performing federal functions.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed that memo and said he had also been told an additional 400 other National Guard members from Texas would be deployed to Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment of the National Guard to Portland on Sunday.
In a Monday afternoon news conference, Pritzker repeatedly decried what he called the Trump administration’s “invasion” of Chicago, and said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials are expanding raids and military-style enforcement actions in order to sow chaos that would then justify the deployment of military troops to Chicago.
“The state of Illinois is going to use every level at our disposal to resist this power grab and get Noem’s thugs the hell out of Chicago,” Pritzker said. “I am not afraid. I am not afraid. And I will not back down.”
The judge did not issue a restraining order during a status hearing Monday, instead setting another hearing for arguments on Thursday. She did caution lawyers for the Trump administration, “If I were the federal government, I’d take a pause on this.”
However, it was revealed in court that National Guard troops from Texas are already on their way to Illinois and could be deployed as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. The Illinois National Guard was ordered to report Tuesday for training, according to state attorneys.
“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military,” said AG Raoul. “Particularly for the reason that their city or state leadership have fallen out of the president’s political favor.”
Raoul said the state has filed more than 40 lawsuits against the Trump administrations so far. He cited the militia clauses of the U.S. Constitution, which give Congress the sole authority to decide where troops are deployed, and the Posse Comitatus Act which prohibits military troops from participating in civilian law enforcement.
“It is unfair to National Guardsmen, it is unfair to local law enforcement and it is certainly unfair to the law abiding citizens of Illinois who do not want to be subject to military occupation,” Raul said.
Raoul said the only situation in the city or state that is “out of control” are the ICE agents whose overreach he said creates pretext for military deployment, and cited President Trump’s own statements that he wants to use American cities as military training grounds and said Chicago “is about to find out why it’s called the Department of War.”
“I’m here to say that the president’s actions are illegal,” Raoul said. “The president has failed to establish that any of the legal prerequisites exist for his efforts to mobilize his National Guard troops here.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the lawsuit sends “a message to the president that Chicago will not be used as a political prop. Chicago will not be intimidated and will not be silent.”
“Our city has faced tough times before and every time we stood strong, because we stood together,” Johnson said. “Let’s continue to work together to protect our democracy and fight for the future of our country.”
U.S. Senators for Illinois Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth released a statement in conjunction with other Illinois Democrats, demanding Mr. Trump reverse his decision to deploy National Guard troops.
“We write to urge you to reverse your reckless decision to federalize and deploy Texas and Illinois National Guard troops to Illinois. Your use of the military to sow fear and chaos in American cities, including over the objections of several Governors, is unconstitutional and un-American, infringes on individual and states’ rights, and threatens to undermine military readiness and morale,” wrote the lawmakers in part.
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