Supreme Court Blocks Trump's Order To Deploy National Guard In Chicago: Report

CHICAGO — After months of delaying a decision, the Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the deployment of the National Guard to Chicago. The decision is considered by many legal experts a major blow to President Donald Trump and his administration, who were hoping the nation's highest judicial body would overrule a federal judge's October decision to not allow the troops in the city to assist immigration agents.

CNN is reporting conservative justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the opinion.

"At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois," the court said in its unsigned order, reports the media outlet.

In October, U.S. District Court Judge April Perry originally blocked the Trump administration's request to send troops to Chicago as part of its ongoing "Operation Midway Blitz" immigration enforcement effort. Later in the month, Perry extended that order, while the Supreme Court said it needed more time to weigh in on the matter.

Asking for additional briefing in the case, the justices indicated at the time a decision wouldn't be made until Nov. 17 at the earliest.

"Nearly 250 years ago, the framers of our nation's Constitution carefully divided responsibility over the country's militia, today's U.S. National Guard, between the federal government and the states – believing it impossible that a president would use one state’s militia against another state," Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement regarding the ruling. "The extremely limited circumstances under which the federal government can call up the militia over a state's objection do not exist in Illinois, and I am pleased that the streets of Illinois will remain free of armed National Guard members as our litigation continues in the courts."

Last month, hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Chicago, as well as several other cities, were sent home. The Associated Press reported the U.S. Northern Command was "shifting and/or rightsizing" units in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago, although there would be a "constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city."

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