Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow deployment of National
Guard in Chicago area
[October 18, 2025]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme
Court to allow the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago
area, escalating President Donald Trump's conflict with Democratic
governors over using the military on U.S. soil.
The emergency appeal to the high court came after a judge prevented, for
at least two weeks, the deployment of Guard members from Illinois and
Texas to assist immigration enforcement. A federal appeals court refused
to put the judge’s order on hold.
The conservative-dominated court has handed Trump repeated victories in
emergency appeals since he took office in January, after lower courts
have ruled against him and often over the objection of the three liberal
justices. The court has allowed Trump to ban transgender people from the
military, claw back billions of dollars of congressionally approved
federal spending, move aggressively against immigrants and fire the
Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies,
In the dispute over the Guard, U.S. District Judge April Perry said she
found no substantial evidence that a “danger of rebellion” is brewing in
Illinois during Trump’s immigration crackdown.
But Solicitor General D. John Sauer, Trump's top Supreme Court lawyer,
urged the justices to step in immediately. Perry's order, Sauer wrote,
“impinges on the President’s authority and needlessly endangers federal
personnel and property.”
Eleven people were arrested at a Friday protest outside a U.S. Customs
and Immigration Enforcement facility in the west Chicago suburb of
Broadview. Law enforcement had urged demonstrators to stay in designated
“protest zones.”
In recent weeks, the Broadview ICE facility has been the site of tense
protests, where federal agents have previously used tear gas and other
chemical agents on protesters and journalists.
A federal judge in Oregon also has temporarily blocked the deployment of
National Guard troops there.
[to top of second column]
|
Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch
on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025,
in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Democratic elected officials sued Friday to
try to stop the ongoing Guard deployment in Memphis. They said
Republican Gov. Bill Lee, with Trump's support, violated the state
constitution, which says the Guard can be called up during
“rebellion or invasion” but only with the blessing of state
lawmakers.
The deployment "sets a dangerous precedent for military intrusion
into local communities,” Memphis City Council member JB Smiley said.
Since their arrival on Oct. 10, troops have been patrolling areas of
downtown Memphis, including near the iconic Pyramid, wearing
fatigues and protective vests that say “military police,” with guns
in holsters. Officials have said Guard members have no arrest power.
“We’re in a unique spot in this city to have the resources available
to us to remove the crime element in Memphis,” Lee said recently.
For years, Memphis has dealt with high violent crime, including
assaults, carjackings and homicides. While this year’s statistics
show improvement, many people acknowledge that violence remains a
problem.
In California, a judge in September said deployment in the Los
Angeles area was illegal. By that point, just 300 of the thousands
of troops sent there remained and the judge did not order them to
leave.
___
Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Chicago, Adrian Sainz
in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee,
contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
