WASHINGTON (TNND) — A federal appeals court ruled that the National Guard troops in Illinois can remain under federal control on Saturday. While they may remain under federal control, the appeals court ruled that the guard cannot be deployed while the appeals process continues between the Trump administration and the state of Illinois.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to temporarily pause a lower court’s decision from earlier last week to halt the deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois for two weeks.
This decision is the latest court saga over whether Trump is overstepping his authority in deploying troops to quell ICE protests in blue cities such as Chicago and Portland.
“Members of the National Guard do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so,” the order says.
Troops stationed in Chicago are now working on “planning and training,” but are not “conducting any operational activities at this time,” the U.S. Northern Command said on Friday.
In the Chicago area, there are 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and 200 members of the Texas National Guard activated under Title 10 as of Wednesday.
Trump’s administration filed a notice of appeal this week against the judge’s decision on Thursday, granting a temporary restraining order against Trump’s National Guard deployment in the state.
“I have seen no credible evidence that there has been rebellion in the state of Illinois” to justify federalizing National Guard soldiers, the judge said in her ruling. The judge also called the Department of Homeland Security assessments of the protests “unreliable.”
Sending troops into Chicago would “only add fuel to the fire,” the judge added.
Leaders in cities like Illinois and Oregon have argued against the Trump administration’s characterizations of their towns as uncontrollably violent, arguing that the situation on the ground is not as the administration portrays it to be.
