Illinois and Chicago on Monday sued to block President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to the city, after the administration mobilized 400 troops from Texas.
A Department of Defense memorandum filed Sunday in Oregon’s lawsuit fighting Trump’s efforts to deploy troops there revealed that the president directed 400 federalized Texas National Guard members to be sent to Chicago, Portland and potentially other locations “where needed.”
In their lawsuit Monday, Illinois and Chicago officials said foundational American principals limiting the president’s authority to involve the military in domestic affairs are “in peril.”
“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the complaint reads.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) called Trump’s move an “invasion” Sunday night and urged Americans to speak out.
The National Guard has also been called up in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., where legal challenges have also been mounted.
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