The State of Illinois filed a lawsuit against the Trump government due to the plan to send National Guard troops to the Chicago region, triggering a new judicial battle on the president’s authority to use soldiers in response to protests against his repression of immigration.
The lawsuit was filed hours after a judge in Portland, Oregon, issued an emergency order blocking a similar shipping of troops to that state. The action intensifies the growing conflict between states led by Democrats and President Donald Trump about the use of the National Guard in cities he describes as dominated by the crime and unable to protect federal properties.
In a complaint made on Monday in Federal Court, the State of Illinois and the city of Chicago accuse Trump of a broad effort to use National Guard troops “to punish their political enemies.” Shipping, which Illinois said could occur today, violates the sovereignty of the state and its right to self -government, according to the process.
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“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States Army, especially because the leadership of their city or state has fallen in disgrace before a president,” said state attorney general Kwame Raoul, in a statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s authority to send federalized National Guard troops to contain domestic protests is being questioned by democratic authorities across the country. In September, a federal judge in California decided that Trump violated federal law by sending troops to Los Angeles to help repression of immigration. Washington, DC, also filed a lawsuit to block continuous shipping of troops to combat crime in the capital.
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Illinois’s process cites Trump’s speech at Pentagon on September 30 for hundreds of military leaders, in which the president criticized Chicago and threatened to send troops.
“He said they should prioritize ‘defend the homeland’ against ‘internal invasion’ in American cities governed by ‘left -wing democrats’, including specifically Chicago,” the lawsuit. “He declared his intention to use our” training fields for our army. “
Illinois also highlighted a Trump publication on social networks on September 6, which included an image of the Chicago Horizon on fire and said: “Chicago is about to find out why it is called the War Department.”
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The Trump government argues that the shipments were justified because local police were not doing enough, a claim denied by local leaders. The president said other cities may be next, including Baltimore and New Orleans.
The legality of Trump’s use of troops can be decided by the US Supreme Court, although it may take months for any of the actions to arrive there.
Chicago was already preparing for possible federal shipments, with Trump and the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, a possible presidential candidate in 2028, exchanging barbs. The president called the governor billionaire “weak and pathetic” for rejecting federal aid. Pritzker responded on social networks with a video showing residents of Chicago running peacefully by the Michigan Lake.
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Trump had been threatened for months to send the National Guard to Chicago, where about one third of the population is Latin. The threats were renewed in the summer after eight people were killed and more than 50 shot on the weekend of Labor Day.
The new action argues that the Trump administration has no authority to fell federalize the National Guard, and that the situation in Chicago does not justify the federation of troops in this way.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said local authorities and community leaders “made it clear that we do not want or need militarized occupation in our city, and I will use all the tools available to ensure as much protection as possible.”
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The State has asked the court to declare that the submission of troops by Trump violates the Constitution and the Federal Law of Administrative Procedures, and to annul any government memorandum that seek this submission.
Protests in Portland
On Sunday, Oregon got a temporary court order blocking for at least two weeks the sending of troops to Portland from any US state, after the Trump government prepared the sending of members of the California National Guard and Texas. Oregon must request a longer injunction later this month.
Federal Judge Karin Immergut, nominated by Trump, issued the order in Portland after concluding that there was no justification for sending. She cited the limited nature of protests and local police capacity to deal with the situation, which involved about 20 protesters at a time in recent weeks. The judge also stated that the sending “scratches the line between the Federal Civil and Military Power – to the detriment of the nation.”
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“The president’s determination was simply disconnected from the facts,” wrote Immergut.
SHIPPING FOR LOS ANGELES
A federal judge in California ruled on September 2 that Trump violated the Comitatus Possession Law by sending National Guard troops and Marines to act in the application of local law in Los Angeles during the summer, while protests against his repression of immigration occurred.
The decision, issued by a Judge in San Francisco after a three -day trial in August, blocks the Trump government to use federal troops for police activities anywhere in California. The government appealed.
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