US Appeals Court Rules National Guard Can Stay in Illinois but Cannot Deploy

A US appellate court has ruled that the hundreds of National Guard troops sent to Chicago may remain in Illinois but cannot be deployed, largely upholding a lower court’s suspension of President Donald Trump’s mobilisation as part of his mass deportation campaign.

“It is ordered that appellants’ request for an administrative stay is granted as to the federalisation of the National Guard and denied as to the deployment of the National Guard,” the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit stated in its ruling on Saturday.

The Trump administration had appealed a lower court ruling issued on Thursday, arguing that the troops were necessary to protect immigration agents and facilities in America’s third-largest city.

The appellate decision maintains the pause on deployment while the court considers further arguments.

The Chicago deployment involves:

The troops have been federalised but may not be actively deployed until the court resolves the case.

A similar deployment in Portland, Oregon, also under Democratic leadership, is under review by a three-member appeals court panel, which is considering whether to lift a separate temporary block on mobilisation.

Illinois and Oregon are not the first states to legally challenge the Trump administration’s domestic use of the National Guard.

Federal authorities have maintained that the deployments are intended to quell demonstrations sparked by raids on undocumented migrants. However, local and state leaders have criticised the action as an unnecessary escalation.

In Chicago, raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have caused widespread concern, particularly among Latino communities in neighbourhoods such as Cicero, Little Village, and Pilsen. Activist groups have warned residents about ongoing sweeps.

“You may not see a raid, but this is affecting our community,” said Casey Caballero, 37, a self-described soccer mom married to a naturalised US citizen.

Recent protests at an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview have seen demonstrators beaten, tear-gassed, and arrested, further heightening tensions.