national guard troops Patrols were expected to begin in Memphis on Friday, a day after a federal judge in Illinois blocked the deployment of troops to the Chicago area for at least two weeks.
Repeated or halted deployments are the result of political and unjust policies. legal battle Regarding President Donald Trump’s coercion dispatch the National Guard to several cities in the United States. The administration claims that crime is rampant in these cities, even though the statistics do not necessarily support it.
If the president invokes the Insurrection Act, dispatch active duty military personnel But a Chicago judge said Thursday he found no substantial evidence of a “risk of insurrection” in Illinois during President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The ruling was a victory for Democratic officials who lead the state and city.
“The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of insurrection in Illinois. And there is no place for the National Guard on the streets of American cities like Chicago,” said Gov. JB Pritzker.
In Tennessee, where Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports the deployment, the troops are expected to assist local, state and federal agencies as “additional eyes and ears” across Memphis, according to the city’s website.
Illinois’ order is set to expire Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m., and U.S. District Judge April Perry has set a hearing for Oct. 22 to determine whether it should be extended for another 14 days.
In his ruling, he said the government violated the 10th Amendment, which gives certain powers to the states, and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees due process and equal protection.
It wasn’t clear what the 500 Guard members from Texas and Illinois would do next. Most of them were stationed at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. A small number of people were outside the U.S. on Thursday. Immigration Customs Enforcement Building In Broadview, for several weeks was at home There have been occasional clashes between protesters and federal officials.
U.S. Northern Command officials directed questions to the Pentagon, which cited its policy not to comment on ongoing litigation. The unit was under the command of U.S. Northern Command and had been in operation for 60 days.
Eric Hamilton, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, said Thursday that the Guard’s mission is to protect federal property and government law enforcement officers in the field, not to “solve every crime in Chicago.”
The city and state called Deployment unnecessary and illegal.
Also Thursday, a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether President Trump had the authority to take control of 200 members of the Oregon National Guard. The president had planned to deploy to Portland, where small nighttime protests were taking place mainly outside the ICE building.
The judge on Sunday conceded temporary restraining order prevent movement. Trump had mobilized California troops to Portland just hours after a judge first blocked the use of the Oregon National Guard.
Twenty-four other states with Democratic attorneys general or governors have signed on to court petitions supporting legal challenges by California and Oregon. Twenty other countries, led by Iowa, supported the Trump administration.
A federal court in Chicago handed down other decisions related to immigration enforcement this week. One judge said immigration officials had committed repeated violations. 2022 Consent Decree Outlines how ICE can make so-called warrantless arrests. The statute requires ICE to produce documentation every time it arrests a non-target person.
The president previously sent troops to Los Angeles. and washington.
In the California incidentthe judge said in September. Deployment was illegal. At that point, only 300 of the thousands of troops sent remained, but the judge did not order them to leave.
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Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Jeff Mulvihill in Philadelphia, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and Konstantin Tropin in Washington contributed to this report.
