CHICAGO – A constitutional crisis is unfolding in Illinois as the Trump administration deployed Texas National Guard troops to the state on Tuesday, defying a federal judge’s temporary restraining order and sparking fierce debate about the limits of presidential power and states’ rights.
President Donald Trump ordered approximately 200 members of the Texas National Guard into Illinois to assist with immigration enforcement operations, following weeks of tension between the administration and Democratic-led states over sanctuary city policies. The deployment comes despite a federal judge’s ruling on Saturday that temporarily blocked such action.
Federal Judge Karen Immergut, a Trump appointee during his first term, issued the temporary restraining order stating: “This is a country governed by constitutional laws, not by martial law.” On Sunday, she extended the order to specifically bar the deployment of California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. The administration announced its intention to appeal both rulings.
The unprecedented move has drawn sharp criticism from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who called the deployment “unconstitutional and a violation of state sovereignty.” Pritzker has directed state law enforcement not to cooperate with the federal troops and filed an emergency motion seeking to hold the administration in contempt of court.
“The President cannot simply deploy military forces into states against their will and in defiance of federal court orders,” Pritzker said in a statement. “This is exactly the kind of executive overreach the founders sought to prevent.”
President Trump defended the action, calling for the imprisonment of Illinois leadership for allegedly failing to protect federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. “Illinois leaders are obstructing federal law enforcement and putting agents’ lives at risk,” Trump stated on Tuesday. “They need to be held accountable.”
Constitutional law experts say the situation raises profound questions about the balance of power between federal and state authorities. The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits the use of federal military forces for domestic law enforcement, though the Insurrection Act provides narrow exceptions.
“This is uncharted territory,” said Professor Michael Dorf of Cornell Law School. “The president’s willingness to deploy military forces in defiance of a federal court order represents a direct challenge to judicial authority and the rule of law.”
The legal battle is expected to quickly escalate to the Supreme Court, with both sides seeking expedited review. Meanwhile, tensions remain high in Illinois, where the National Guard deployment has sparked protests and raised concerns about potential confrontations between federal and state authorities.
Source: CNN / BBC News
