US Supreme Court rejects Trump's bid to send National Guard to Chicago

The United States Supreme Court has blocked an effort by the Trump administration to send National Guard troops to Chicago in support of federal immigration operations. The ruling, issued without a signature, rejected an emergency request to overturn a lower court's October order that had halted the troop deployment.

Court's rationale on presidential authority

In its brief order, the court found that the administration failed to demonstrate its legal authority for the action. The justices stated that "at least in this posture," the government had not shown that Title 10, the federal statute cited, allows the president to federalize the National Guard under an "inherent authority" to protect federal personnel and property in Illinois. The decision appeared to split the court 6-3.

Background of the state-federal clash

The dispute stems from a plan to deploy approximately 500 National Guard members to the Chicago area to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel. The move was strongly opposed by Illinois's Democratic Governor, JB Pritzker. The Trump administration had argued that federal courts should not interfere with the president's authority to activate the Guard, a position the Supreme Court declined to support in this instance.

Broader pattern of proposed deployments

This case is part of a broader pattern in which the Trump administration has sought or threatened to use military assets in several major U.S. cities led by Democratic officials, including Washington D.C., Portland, and Los Angeles, often citing law enforcement or immigration enforcement justifications.