The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to pause a lower court order that blocks the federal government from deploying National Guard troops to Illinois, escalating a constitutional clash over presidential authority and state control of military forces.
In an emergency filing late Friday, US Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that an order issued by US District Judge April Perry in Chicago “causes irreparable harm to the Executive Branch” by preventing the president from exercising his powers as commander in chief. Sauer said the order endangers federal law enforcement officers and obstructs the government’s ability to protect its personnel amid what he described as months of violent resistance in the Chicago area.
The administration is seeking an immediate administrative stay while the justices consider the broader application. The Supreme Court has ordered Illinois officials and the city of Chicago to respond by 5 pm Monday, suggesting the justices could act quickly on the request.
At issue is whether President Donald Trump acted within his constitutional authority when, on Oct. 4, he called up 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to assist federal agents in Chicago. Sauer told the court the deployment was necessary after incidents in which federal officers were allegedly ambushed, assaulted, and injured during operations tied to immigration enforcement.
Judge Perry, an appointee of President Joe Biden, issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9 that bars the administration from federalizing or deploying the Illinois Guard through Oct. 23. Perry threw doubt on the reliability of the federal government’s account of events, writing that while there was evidence of vandalism and assaults, the declarations submitted by administration officials did not conclusively support their claims of widespread or organized violence.
The Justice Department’s filing characterizes the dispute as part of a “recurring pattern” in which federal agents face coordinated resistance and violence while attempting to enforce immigration law in large urban areas with substantial numbers of undocumented immigrants.
