A federal appeals court is letting the National Guard troops sent to Illinois by President Donald Trump stay under federal control, but it also ruled Saturday they cannot be deployed for now. This comes after a federal judge blocked the Guard’s deployment on Thursday.
“Members of the National Guard do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so,” the court said in its Saturday ruling.
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Using the military is ‘not called for’
U.S. District Judge April Perry, in her own decision on Thursday, granted a motion temporarily putting the deployment on hold as the case continues in court.
“There has been no showing that the civil power has failed,” Perry said in her opinion, according to The Associated Press. “The agitators who have violated the law by attacking federal authorities have been arrested. The courts are open, and the marshals are ready to see that any sentences of imprisonment are carried out.”
Resorting to using the military to carry out these laws “is not called for,” Perry added. Citing “huge increases in arrests and deportations,” Perry said there’s a good amount of evidence that federal agents have been able to do their work.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated the judge’s ruling Thursday night, saying that Trump “is not a king — and his administration is not above the law.”
“Today, the court confirmed what we all know: there is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois,” he said. “And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago.”
The 500 Guard members, who came from both Illinois and Texas, arrived in the Chicago area earlier this week. Most were based at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in the suburban village of Elwood, while others were taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in another suburb, Broadview.
Deployments face legal challenges
Trump has attempted to send National Guard troops to other cities, such as Washington, D.C. and Portland. However, much like Chicago, these deployments faced legal challenges.
The president used crime in these cities to justify sending in federalized troops, and even indicated in October he’d be open to using the Insurrection Act if courts or local officials prevent him from doing so.
“If people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure I’d do that,” Trump said.
However, residents and officials in these cities maintain that crime rates are falling and that local law enforcement is already equipped to handle protests.
