Appeals Court Maintains Block on National Guard Deployment in Illinois

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's order preventing the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops in Illinois, citing insufficient evidence of rebellion.

The three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the administration's decision to deploy the National Guard was a "likely violation" of the Tenth Amendment, which reserves certain powers to the states. The panel found the administration "unlikely to succeed" in proving that there is a "rebellion" against the authority of the U.S. government or that the president is unable to execute the law with regular forces.

The decision maintains the status quo in Illinois, with the temporary restraining order blocking the deployment remaining in effect through October 23. U.S. District Judge April has scheduled a hearing for October 22 to determine whether to extend the temporary order.

As of last week, approximately 200 federalized National Guard troops from Texas and 14 from California were in Illinois, according to a declaration from a U.S. Army official. Another 300 Guardsmen from Illinois have been mobilized by the president over the objections of Governor JB Pritzker.

President Donald Trump has stated that Guard troops are needed for crime prevention in Chicago, which he has described as a "war zone." Additionally, the administration has indicated that troops are necessary to protect federal immigration facilities, which have been sites of clashes between protesters and federal immigration agents amid stepped-up immigration enforcement.

The appeals court panel noted that there was scant evidence the protests in Chicago amounted to a rebellion. "Political opposition is not rebellion," the judges wrote in their decision. They further stated, "We see insufficient evidence of a rebellion or danger of rebellion in Illinois. The spirited, sustained, and occasionally violent actions of demonstrators in protest of the federal government's immigration policies and actions, without more, does not give rise to a danger of rebellion against the government's authority."

The judges also found "insufficient evidence that protest activity in Illinois has significantly impeded the ability of federal officers to execute federal immigration laws." While an immigration facility in the Broadview suburb of Chicago has been the site of regular protests, it has remained open, and the protests "have been quickly contained by local, state, and federal authorities," the judges wrote. They added, "At the same time, immigration arrests and deportations have proceeded apace in Illinois over the past year, and the administration has been proclaiming the success of its current efforts to enforce immigration laws in the Chicago area. The administration accordingly is also unlikely to succeed on this argument."