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CHICAGO (CN) — The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday morning to block the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard.
Illinois described President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy troops in Chicago as “patently unlawful” in the 69-page-complaint filed Monday in the Northern District of Illinois. The state sought an immediate restraining order to block the deployment, which a federal judge denied Monday afternoon.
Further arguments will take place Thursday.
“Defendants have not deployed state national guards in any other state without their consent,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul wrote in the complaint. “Such disparate treatment without any basis violates the principle of equal sovereignty. Defendants’ selection of Illinois for National Guard federalization and deployment is, at best, arbitrary and, at worst, a politically motivated retaliation for plaintiffs’ adoption of policies that the president disfavors, and it harms the state of Illinois.”
On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called up 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to protect federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The next day, Hegseth called for an additional 500 guard members from Texas to serve in Illinois.
“The president determined that violent incidents, as well as the credible threat of continued violence, are impeding the execution of the laws of the United States in Illinois, Oregon and other locations throughout the United States,” Hegseth wrote in a memo.
Trump’s plan came after a tense week of escalated immigration enforcement efforts and protests. Federal immigration agents arrested Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, a Democrat for the 26th ward, after she showed up at a Humboldt Park hospital asking if agents had a warrant for one of their detainees.
Residents of at a South Shore apartment complex awoke in the middle of the night to federal immigration agents kicking in their doors, zip-tying them and shoving them into unmarked vans.
“This didn’t happen in some faraway authoritarian regime. It happened right here in Chicago, right here in the United States of America,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said at a news briefing Monday afternoon. “The reports of excessive use of force against children [are] unconscionable. And the way many innocent residents who lived in the building were treated is appalling. In response, I’ve directed the Illinois Department of Children Family Services, and the Illinois Department of Human Services to provide support and to evaluate the treatment of the children who were traumatized.”
Raoul reiterated Pritzker’s concerns at Monday’s news conference and said it’s clear that the Trump administration is simply sowing chaos to execute its “Operation Midway Blitz.”
“The only situations that are out of control are certain ICE and customs border patrol officers who are engaged in shocking overreach in attempt to create a crisis,” Raoul said. “In fact, President Trump’s own statements over time demonstrate that this is not at all about an emergency. He said specifically that he wants to use American cities as military training grounds.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday that would establish ICE-free zones and limit where federal agents can gather in the city.
“The order ensures that city property, personnel and resources are not used to carry out or support civil immigration enforcement,” Johnson wrote. “Its broader goal is to protect the rights, safety and dignity of all Chicago residents while reinforcing the city’s commitment to trust-based public safety.”
Trump had toyed with the idea of sending the National Guard into Illinois since the beginning of September, but he initially walked back his efforts.
The president has deployed or attempted to deploy troops in various spots throughout the country. A federal judge in Oregon on Sunday blocked troops from being sent to Portland for two weeks. Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles in June to confront protests in response to immigration raids. A federal judge ultimately found the deployment of troops in LA was illegal.
In August, Trump nationalized guard members in Washington, D.C., along with sending in other federal troops.
There are limited instances in which the president can call in the National Guard: to repel an invasion, to suppress a rebellion or if the president is unable to enforce U.S. laws with regular forces.
Raoul wrote in the lawsuit that the Trump administration couldn’t satisfy any of the prerequisites for involuntarily federalizing the National Guard. Moreover, he noted that Trump has long held a grudge against Chicago over its sanctuary city policies.
“The supposed current emergency is belied by the fact that Trump’s Chicago troop deployment threats began more than 10 years ago,” Raoul wrote in the complaint. “In a social media post from 2013 Trump writes, ‘we need our troops on the streets of Chicago, not in Syria.’”
Pritzker also called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to withdraw any support for the decision to send his state’s National Guard troops to Chicago.
“I have been very clear to Governor Abbott, not the first time, as you know, but I have been very clear that he should withdraw his approval of the president calling up his Texas National Guard,” Pritzker said at Monday’s news conference. “And again, Governor Abbott should stay the hell out of Illinois’ business.”
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