Appeals court won’t let Trump deploy National Guard in Illinois for now

National Guard troops stand outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. Photo / Joshua Lott, The Washington Post

A federal appeals court has said that it would not let President Donald Trump deploy troops in Illinois for now, leaving in place a judge’s ruling that blocked the administration from placing the National Guard in the Chicago area.

National Guard troops can remain under federal control, but the Trump administration cannot deploy them anywhere in Illinois, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit wrote in an opinion.

Last week, US District Judge April M Perry blocked Trump’s effort to deploy troops in and around Chicago.

Illinois officials had challenged the deployment, saying that Trump was acting illegally and that his administration was intruding on the state’s sovereignty. The Trump administration said the President acted lawfully and described the troops as needed to protect federal personnel and property amid protests.

Perry, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said she found a “lack of credibility” in federal officials’ declarations in the lawsuit. In an order, Perry wrote that she had also taken note of “a troubling trend” of the declarations “equating protest with riots”.

She blocked the Trump administration from federalising and deploying the National Guard anywhere in Illinois. By the time Perry ruled, Texas National Guard members had already been operating in the Chicago area.

The Trump administration appealed Perry’s order, accusing her of ignoring “the facts on the ground” and second-guessing Trump’s “military judgments” as commander in chief.

On Saturday, the Chicago-based 7th Circuit paused part of Perry’s order, saying that Trump could federalise the National Guard within Illinois for now. That unsigned order left in place Perry’s block on troops being deployed.

The order also said that troops already in Illinois could remain there, writing that National Guard members “do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so”.

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