Appeals Court Blocks Trump’s National Guard Deployment in Chicago

A federal appeals court on Saturday rejected the Trump administration's bid to immediately deploy National Guard troops to Illinois, leaving in place a lower court order temporarily blocking the mobilisation, according to Reuters.

In a brief order, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government cannot deploy the troops but said out-of-state Guard members already in Illinois do not need to return to their home states for the time being. The deployment had involved hundreds of soldiers from the Texas National Guard.

U.S. District Judge April Perry issued the initial order on Thursday after questioning the administration's claims that the troops were necessary to protect federal agents from violent protesters. Her order is set to remain in effect until at least 23 October, though she may extend it, Reuters reported.

A similar federal case in Oregon has also blocked President Donald Trump's efforts to send troops to Portland, though an appellate court appeared likely to overturn that decision during arguments earlier this week.

In both Illinois and Oregon, Democratic governors challenged the administration, arguing that mostly peaceful demonstrations were mischaracterised as violent to justify further troop deployments.

Trump has threatened to expand his campaign to other Democratic-led cities, following previous National Guard deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., despite objections from local mayors. A trial court in Los Angeles ruled the summer deployment there illegal, though an appeals court later granted a stay pending the administration's appeal, Reuters reported.

While part of the U.S. military, the National Guard is typically controlled by state governors during domestic deployments, responding to emergencies such as natural disasters.

(With inputs from Reuters)