Officials in Illinois filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump's planned deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago, seeking to halt their arrival after agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement began a crackdown in the city.
President Trump signed a memorandum Monday to activate 300 members of Illinois' National Guard for at least 60 days.
"The members of the Illinois National Guard called into Federal service shall protect ICE, FPS, and other United States Government personnel who are executing Federal law in the State of Illinois, and Federal property in the State of Illinois," the memo read. "They shall do so at any locations at which violent demonstrations prevent the execution of Federal law or are likely to prevent the execution of Federal law based on current threat assessments and planned operations."
"These advances in President Trump’s long-declared ‘War’ on Chicago and Illinois are unlawful and dangerous," the lawsuit said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the court would hold a hearing on the case on Tuesday. The judge has indicated she may not take action on the case until Thursday.
President Trump on Monday told reporters he would weigh the use of the Insurrection Act if it became "necessary." That law allows the president to federalize National Guard units and assign law enforcement duties to members of the military under certain circumstances.
"I’d do it if it was necessary. So far it hasn’t been necessary. But we have an Insurrection Act for a reason,' President Trump said. "If I had to enact it, I'd do that. If people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I'd do that. I mean, I want to make sure that people aren't killed. We have to make sure that our cities are safe."
The lawsuit by Illinois comes after a federal agent shot a woman in Chicago over the weekend. The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting occurred after Border Patrol vehicles were struck and corralled by other vehicles in the city.
Earlier on Sunday, meanwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon.
That ruling granted California and Oregon a temporary restraining order after President Donald Trump ordered hundreds of California National Guard troops to be deployed into Portland to combat protests at an immigration processing facility.
"A federal judge BLOCKED Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to DEPLOY 300 OF OUR NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO PORTLAND," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. "The court granted our request for a Temporary Restraining Order — HALTING ANY FEDERALIZATION, RELOCATION, OR DEPLOYMENT of ANY GUARD MEMBERS TO OREGON FROM ANY STATE."
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The ruling came after the same judge — who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term — blocked the deployment of Oregon's National Guard into Portland. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, however, has also warned that the president has threatened to deploy National Guard troops in his state from places like Texas.
"We must now start calling this what it is: Trump's invasion," Pritzker said in a statement. "It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state's military troops."
In September, Trump posted a meme on his Truth Social platform saying Chicago is "about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR" — a reference to his executive order aimed at renaming the Department of Defense.
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In a separate post, President Trump referenced shootings and murders in Chicago.
"This would mean that over the past number of weeks, approximately 50 people were killed and hundreds were shot, many expected to die," he stated. "Governor Pritzker just stated that he doesn’t want federal government help! WHY???"
The Trump administration has also dispatched National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and Louisiana plans to use National Guard troops in New Orleans — a move supported by the state’s Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.
Military members are unable to conduct law enforcement missions but can be used to provide support for officers.
