Illinois Is Taking the Feds to Court Over 'Trump's Invasion' of Chicago
"The Trump Administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice [sic] Officers!" President Donald Trump blasted on Truth Social on October 8. "Governor Pritzker also!"
The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago filed suit against the Trump administration on October 6, arguing that the Defense Department's deployment of both Illinois and Texas National Guard members to Chicago is unlawful and unconstitutional.
The suit was a response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth federalizing 300 Illinois National Guard members on October 4, and 400 from Texas the following day. Despite opposition from both Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the troops arrived in Chicago on October 8.
"The Trump Administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will," Pritzker wrote in a statement condemning the "outrageous and un-American" deployment of the Illinois Guard. After the Texas National Guard was deployed, he added, "We must now start calling this what it is: Trump's Invasion."
Illinois' complaint closely resembles Oregon's lawsuit filed a week earlier, arguing that the Trump administration's action does not meet the prerequisites necessary to federalize the National Guard, violates the Posse Comitatus Act, and violates the 10th Amendment by infringing on "Illinois's sovereignty and right to self-governance."
On October 4, Judge Karin Immergut of U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted a temporary restraining order against the federalization of the Oregon National Guard. She rules that plaintiffs were "likely to succeed on their claim that the President's federalization…exceeded his statutory authority" and "violated the Tenth Amendment." She added, "Whether we choose to follow what the Constitution mandates goes to the heart of what it means to live under the rule of law in the United States."
The very next day, Trump attempted to send out-of-state troops to Oregon—"in direct contravention of the court's order," according to Immergut, who issued a second order blocking the deployment.
Illinois plaintiffs argue the same rationale articulated by Immergut should apply in their case. Laying out the long, hostile history between Trump and Chicago's leaders—including Trump's "Chipocalypse Now" Truth Social post, which Pritzker took as a threat of war—the complaint asserts that the decision to deploy troops "was made long before recent events" of "small, primarily peaceful" protests outside the Broadview ICE facility in the suburbs of Chicago.
A few weeks later, Trump called Pritzker "incompetent" and "stupid" in a speech to hundreds of generals and admirals. He proposed using large Democrat-run American cities—such as Chicago—as "training grounds" for the military.
Amid the escalating tensions and awaiting a court decision, Pritzker didn't mince words. "The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props," Pritzker wrote in a statement. "This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness."
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "'Trump Invasion' of American Cities."
