Dem
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GOP
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Donald Trump ordered 500 National Guard Troops from Illinois and Texas to invade Chicago. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) sued. On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge April Perry, a Joe Biden appointee, ruled that Trump could not deploy the troops there, in part due to a "lack of credibility" in official declarations about the deployments. This is judge-speak for "I don't like you lying to me."
Trump appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, conveniently located in ... Chicago. The Illinois AG argued that the deployment was "startling, unbounded, limitless and not in accord with our system of ordered liberty of federalism."
The appeals court acted with lightning speed. On Saturday, in a one-page unsigned order, the court ruled that the Guard could remain federalized but it may not deploy to Chicago. The ruling said that deployment would likely lead to civil unrest and add fuel to the fire.
The troops may remain in the Chicago area, but may not occupy the city. As long as they stay in armories and conduct training and planning exercises, they do not have to be demobilized and sent home. However, they may not engage in what the court called "operational activities."
Protests have continued in Chicago all week, but they have been peaceful, with people waving signs and chanting. There have also been peaceful prayer vigils near an ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb.
Clearly this is not the final word. The administration may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the arguments Illinois is likely to make there is that deploying National Guard troops to "fight crime"—that is, domestic law enforcement—violates the Posse Comitatus Act. The law is fairly clear here, but the current Supreme Court is pretty good at bending itself into a pretzel to get the result it wants, regardless of the law. (V)