The state of Illinois on Thursday urged a judge to order the National Guard to stand down in the Chicago area, calling the deployment a constitutional crisis and suggesting the Trump administration ignored the ongoing legal challenge when it sent troops overnight to an immigration enforcement building.
The government “still moved forward,” attorney Christopher Wells said. “Now the troops are here.”
Wells’ arguments opened an extraordinary hearing in federal court in Chicago. The city and state, led by Democratic elected leaders, say President Donald Trump has overstepped his authority and ignored their calls to keep the Guard off the streets.
Heavy public participation at the downtown courthouse prompted officials to open an overflow room with a video feed of the hearing.
Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton said the Chicago area was in the grip of “tragic lawlessness.” He noted an incident last weekend in which a Border Patrol vehicle was surrounded and an agent shot a woman in response.
“Chicago is facing a new form of brazen hostility from rioters targeting federal law enforcement,” Hamilton said. “They’re not protesters. There’s enough risk of rebellion here, and that’s true.”
Guard members from Texas and Illinois arrived this week at a U.S. Army Reserve facility in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. All 500 fall under U.S. Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days.
Some Guard troops could be seen behind portable fencing at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, outside Chicago. It was the scene of occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents, but the scene was peaceful, with few people present.
Police noticed soldiers apparently sleeping “quietly” in pickup trucks Wednesday evening, Broadview said in a statement.
“We hope they will extend the same courtesy in the coming days to Broadview residents who also deserve a good night’s sleep,” the village said.
Chicago and Illinois sued Monday to stop the deployments, calling them unnecessary and illegal. Trump has described Chicago as a “hell” of lawless crime, even though statistics show a recent significant decline in crime.
In a court filing, the city and state say protests against the ICE building in Broadview have “never come close to stopping federal immigration enforcement.”
“The president is using the Broadview protests as an excuse,” they wrote. “The impending deployment of federal troops to Illinois is the latest episode in a broader campaign by the presidential administration to target jurisdictions the president does not like.”
The Republican president said Wednesday that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker should be jailed for failing to protect federal agents during immigration enforcement operations.
Also Thursday, a federal appeals court was scheduled to hear arguments on whether Trump had the authority to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. The president had planned to deploy them in Portland, where mostly small, nighttime protests took place in front of an ICE building. As in Illinois, state and city leaders insist the troops are neither wanted nor needed there.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Sunday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of Guard troops to Portland. Trump had mobilized California troops for Portland just hours after the judge blocked him from using the Oregon Guard.
Two dozen other states with Democratic attorneys general or governors have signed on to an appeals court filing in support of California and Oregon’s legal challenge.
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus law limits the military’s role in enforcing the nation’s laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active-duty military personnel to states that are unable to quell an insurrection or that defy federal law.
Trump had already sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington. In Memphis, Tennessee, Mayor Paul Young said Guard members would begin patrolling Friday. Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee supports using the Guard.
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Associated Press writers Gene Johnson in Seattle, Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
