The state of Illinois and Chicago on Monday sued the Trump administration over its move to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago as the White House targets Democrat-led cities amid weeks of protests against the federal government’s immigration enforcement campaign.
“Defendants’ deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful,” the lawsuit says. “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.”
The lawsuit comes two days after the White House announced President Donald Trump authorized 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to Chicago to “protect federal officers and assets,” reprising a strategy he first used against anti-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
The news was condemned by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. On Sunday – after learning the administration also planned to send 400 members of the Texas National Guard to Illinois and Oregon, among other places – Pritzker likened the move to an “invasion.”
The lawsuit asks the court to order the administration to stop federalizing or deploying any National Guard troops to Illinois, and to declare the federalization of National Guard troops more broadly as unlawful.
The complaint, filed in a US District Court in Illinois, argued the deployments are politically motivated, claiming Trump has a long history of making “threatening and derogatory” comments about Chicago and the state of Illinois. The President, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem and Department of Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth are among the defendants named.
Illinois’ lawsuit follows a similar challenge to the administration’s move to assign federalized guard troops to Portland, Oregon. Officials in Oregon and California had objected, and a Trump-appointed federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the deployment of National Guard from anywhere in the US to Portland.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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