Illinois state officials on Thursday asked a federal judge to halt the National Guard’s deployment in the Chicago area, arguing that President Donald Trump’s administration has created a constitutional crisis by sending troops without regard for a pending lawsuit challenging his authority.
Attorney Christopher Wells from the Illinois attorney general’s office said the federal government “plowed ahead anyway. Now, troops are here.”
The tense hearing at a packed federal courthouse in Chicago reportedly drew so many spectators that an overflow room had to be opened. State and city officials, both led by Democrats, oppose that Trump has overstepped his powers by deploying the Guard without their consent.
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Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton defended the deployment, citing “tragic lawlessness” in the region and an incident in which a Border Patrol agent shot a woman after being surrounded. “Chicago is seeing a brazen new form of hostility from rioters targeting federal law enforcement,” he said. “They’re not protesters. There is enough that there is a danger of a rebellion here, which there is.”
READ ALSO: Trump calls for jailing of Illinois governor and Chicago mayor over Guard opposition
When Hamilton suggested that gas masks worn by demonstrators signaled intent to fight, U.S. District Judge April Perry pushed back, saying, “I, too, would wear a gas mask, not because I’m trying to be violent but because I’m trying to protect myself.”
Hamilton clarified that the National Guard’s mission was limited to protecting federal properties and officers, not tackling Chicago’s broader crime problems.
About 500 Guard members from Texas and Illinois have arrived at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago, under a 60-day activation order from the U.S. Northern Command. Some troops were seen resting inside vans near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, where past protests have occasionally turned confrontational.
“We hope that they will extend the same courtesy in the coming days to Broadview residents who deserve a good night’s sleep, too,” the village said in a statement after noting the troops appeared to have slept “undisturbed.”
Illinois and Chicago filed suit earlier in the week, calling the deployment “unnecessary and illegal.” Their court filing accuses the administration of using federal power to target Democratic-led jurisdictions.
Trump, who has repeatedly called Chicago a “hellhole,” claimed on Wednesday that Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker should be jailed for failing to protect federal agents.
READ ALSO: After Portland win, Illinois fights Trump’s move to send National Guard troops to Chicago
The Illinois dispute comes as similar legal battles play out elsewhere. A federal appeals court was set to hear arguments over Trump’s attempt to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops for deployment in Portland, where small nightly protests continue. A judge temporarily blocked that move, and the president’s attempt to redirect California troops there was also halted.
Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states have joined the legal fight, arguing that the president’s actions violate the 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts military involvement in domestic law enforcement.
Trump, however, has said he is prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act if necessary, a step that would allow active-duty military deployment in states defying federal authority.
He has previously sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. In Memphis, Tennessee, Mayor Paul Young confirmed that Guard patrols would begin Friday with support from Republican Governor Bill Lee.
READ ALSO: Trump issues ‘Apocalypse’ threat to Chicago; Pritzker calls him a ‘wannabe dictator’
