Legal battles challenge National Guard deployments in Illinois, Oregon
A constitutional showdown over the president's deployment of the National Guard took place in two separate courtrooms Thursday. The Illinois and the limits of the president's power over state sovereignty and will.
In Illinois, called the deployment a "constitutional crisis" and urged the judge to order the National Guard to stand down in Chicago. the deployment is needed to address an area rife with "tragic lawlessness."
At the heart of the cases, that President Donald Trump has absolute authority to decide when to deploy National Guard troops domestically, and it's not up to states or courts to question.
"We've deployed federal law enforcement and National Guard to restore public safety and we're working to replicate that in numerous places all over the country," President Trump said during a Thursday cabinet meeting. "We have a powerful military. We have a very powerful National Guard."
But local leaders argue that immigration protests happening in their respective cities do not justify the use of National Guard troops. They claim the deployment of the Guard is illegal, an overstep of power, and politically motivated to punish and disrupt so-called "sanctuary" communities.
"The illegal deployment of the National Guard in our city and the escalation of ICE raids do nothing to keep our young people safe," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said. "In fact, it makes them afraid and it disrupts their learning."
The Trump administration further argues that the National Guard cannot carry out local law enforcement duties, meaning they cannot make arrests like local police officers. Instead, the administration says the National Guard's mission is purely to protect federal buildings and agents, not "solving all of crime" in places like Chicago.
However, President Trump has floated the idea of using the Insurrection Act, which would allow the National Guard to then act similarly to local police.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said, with the president's authority, the federal government is buying more buildings in Chicago and Portland to allow federal agents, not necessarily the National Guard, to operate out of them.
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