The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration can’t send National Guard troops to quell violence in the streets of Chicago amid federal immigration raids.
The Trump administration asked the high court to give the federal government the authority to send troops while facing pushback from Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
“I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois. State, county, and local law enforcement have been working together and coordinating to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people’s ability to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights. I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people,” Pritzker said in October of Trump’s announcement to federalize 300 National Guard soldiers for the deployment.
The 6-3 decision largely hinged on whether the circumstances on the ground in Chicago can be controlled by “regular forces.”
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch dissented, according to reports.
“At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the court said in its unsigned order, according to CNN.
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A lower court previously struck down the Trump administration’s deployment attempt, sparking the president’s request for the high court to weigh in on the issue.
The federal government commenced “Operation Midway Blitz” in September, deploying federal immigration agents to Illinois, where they’ve since faced violence and had hefty bounties placed on their heads from Mexican cartels.
Protests were also occurring outside the Broadview ICE facility on an almost weekly basis during the height of the operation.
Still, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol have made roughly 1,500 arrests as part of the crackdown, according to reports.
