Trump asks Supreme Court to authorize National Guard deployment to Chicago

The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to authorize the deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to protect federal personnel and federal property amid protests over immigration enforcement in the region.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, Trump’s top Supreme Court lawyer, urged the justices to intervene immediately after a judge ruled last week that National Guard troops sent to Illinois by the president Donald Trump to fight crime can remain in the state but cannot patrol or deploy to protect federal property. A federal appeals court refused to stay the judge’s order.

U.S. District Judge April Perry said she found no convincing evidence that there is a “danger of rebellion” in Illinois amid Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.

TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS MAY REMAIN IN ILLINOIS BUT FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS DEPLOYMENT

Sauer wrote in the emergency filing that the judge’s decision “encroaches on the President’s authority and unnecessarily endangers federal personnel and assets.”

The Trump administration says in its filing that the case represents a “disturbing and recurring pattern” in which federal immigration enforcement agents face “prolonged, coordinated, and violent resistance that threatens their lives and safety and systematically interferes with their ability to enforce federal law.”

“Federal agents are forced to scramble desperately to protect themselves and federal property, allocating resources from their law enforcement mission to conduct protective operations,” the filing states.

“Benefiting from lukewarm support from local forces, they are often left to their own devices in the face of violent and hostile crowds. Faced with intolerable risks of harm to federal agents and violent, coordinated opposition to the enforcement of federal law, the President legally determines that he is unable to enforce the laws of the United States with regular forces and calls in the National Guard to defend federal personnel, property, and functions in the face of ongoing violence. violence,” he said.

The Supreme Court asked Monday at 5 p.m. for the opposition’s response to the emergency request filed by the Trump administration. The court should then suggest that the administration file a response.

The plea to the nation’s highest court comes as 11 protesters were arrested Friday outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, a west Chicago suburb that has become a frequent hotspot for protests against federal agents in recent weeks.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker opposes federal deployments in Chicago. (Kamil Krazaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

The complaint also deepens the conflict between Trump and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who have strongly opposed the troop deployment. They called any deployment unconstitutional and insisted the city is not facing the kind of crime crisis the White House claims.

Pritzker fired back at the dossier on X, accusing Trump of trying to “invade Illinois with troops” and vowing to defend state sovereignty.

“Militarizing our communities against their will is not only un-American, but also leads us down a dangerous path for our democracy,” Pritzker wrote. “What’s next?”

Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles, Washington DC and Memphis, Tennessee, to help combat violent crime. He said these measures had led to a drop in crime in these areas.

Earlier this week, the president floated the idea of ​​invoking the Insurrection Act to combat violent crime in Chicago and urged Pritzker to “ask for help” from the federal government.

“UNATTACHED TO REALITY”: LAWYERS FOR TRUMP, OREGON AND SPAR ON NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT DURING COURT CLASH

“I could use it if I wanted to. I could use it – it’s a very simple answer. I have the right to use the Insurrection Act,” Trump said after the question was asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 gives the president the authority to deploy active-duty military troops or federalized National Guard troops domestically in limited circumstances, such as to suppress civil unrest, rebellion, or obstruction of federal law. It has been invoked around thirty times by around ten presidents, most recently by George HW Bush during the Los Angeles riots in 1992, according to the Associated Press.

But on Monday, Trump said he didn’t have to “go there yet” because his administration “wins on appeal.”

President Donald Trump wants the National Guard to protect federal personnel and federal property amid protests over immigration enforcement in Illinois. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“You know, we’re losing with the radical left judges at the lower level, but we’re winning on appeal. So we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

The court, dominated by conservatives, has given Trump repeated victories in emergency appeals since taking office in January, after lower courts ruled against him and often over the objection of the three liberal justices.

The court allowed Trump to ban transgender people from the military, claw back billions of dollars in federal spending approved by Congress, move aggressively against illegal immigrants and fire Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.