A federal appeals court ruled Saturday that National Guard troops in Illinois can remain under federal control but cannot be deployed as the appeals process continues amid the ongoing standoff between the Trump administration and the state.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed this week to temporarily stay part of a lower court’s order that halted National Guard troop deployments in the state for two weeks — the latest in a bi-coastal legal saga over whether President Donald Trump is exceeding his authority by deploying troops to quell protests outside ICE facilities near Democratic-run cities like Chicago and Portland.
“Members of the National Guard need not return to their home country unless ordered to do so by a court,” the order states.
Troops in the Chicago area are now engaged in “planning and training” but “are not conducting any operational activities at this time,” U.S. Northern Command said in an update Friday.
There were 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and 200 members of the Texas National Guard activated under Title 10 and in the Chicago area on Wednesday, the command previously said.
The Trump administration this week filed a notice of appeal against U.S. District Court Judge April Perry’s decision Thursday to grant a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s National Guard deployment to Illinois.
“I have not seen any credible evidence that there has been a rebellion in the State of Illinois” that would justify federalizing National Guard troops, Perry said in his ruling, calling the Department of Homeland Security’s assessments of the protests “unreliable.”
Sending troops “would only add fuel to the fire,” the judge added.
Leaders in places like Illinois and Oregon have sharply disputed the Trump administration’s descriptions of their cities as “war-ravaged” and uncontrollably violent, arguing in court that the situation on the ground is not as extreme as federal officials describe it.
On the West Coast, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is still considering whether the Trump administration should be blocked from federalizing the Oregon National Guard to respond to ICE protests in Portland. They have not yet issued a decision, although state Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Thursday he expects a decision “in the coming days.”
