US President Donald Trump has been temporarily barred from deploying the National Guard to Illinois for two weeks to support his immigration crackdown after a federal judge partially granted the state a temporary restraining order against the deployment. The ruling will halt the President’s plans—for now. The White House can appeal the decision, or Trump could utilise other executive authority to mobilise troops to support his immigration crackdown. Judge April Perry, in her oral ruling on Thursday, granted Illinois and co-plaintiffs in part an emergency motion to prevent the President from deploying troops, the Chicago Tribune reported. Her written ruling is expected on Friday. National Guard troops from Illinois and Texas have been stationed in southwest suburban Elwood since earlier this week. Even before out-of-state troops arrived, Illinois and Chicago sued the Trump administration, arguing in the suit that the deployment was “unlawful and dangerous.”Illinois governor JB Pritzker said in a statement: “Donald Trump is not a king – and his administration is not above the law.” . Quoting the judge, Pritzker added: “Today, the court confirmed what we all know: there is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago.”Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson, who attended the court hearing, called the decision a “win for the people of Chicago and the rule of law”. He vowed that the city would “continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to end the Trump administration’s war on Chicago”. About 500 Texas and Illinois National Guard soldiers arrived in the Chicago area this week for an initial period of 60 days “to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other US Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property,” U.S. Northern Command spokesperson Becky Farmer told Axios in a statement. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claim troops are needed to protect federal law enforcement, especially after they’ve clashed with protesters and residents near an ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview and last weekend on the city’s southwest side. “If J.B. Pritzker actually walked the streets of his own city, he would see domestic terrorists and violent rioters attacking police officers and the scourge of violent crime as a direct result of his own policies,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement this week. Trump this week called for Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to be jailed for “failing to protect Ice officers.”
