The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow National Guard troops to deploy in Chicago to safeguard federal immigration enforcement amid ongoing protests. This emergency appeal follows a federal judge's ruling that blocked such deployment, citing insufficient evidence of rebellion. The filing highlights violent resistance to federal agents and escalates tensions with Illinois state officials.
On Friday, October 18, 2025, Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court, urging it to overturn a lower court's block on deploying National Guard troops in Chicago. The troops, sent by President Donald Trump to Illinois to combat crime, were restricted by U.S. District Judge April Perry's October 9 injunction. Judge Perry ruled that while the troops could remain in the state, they could not patrol or protect federal property, finding "no convincing evidence that a 'danger of rebellion' exists in Illinois amid Trump’s immigration enforcement push."
A three-judge federal appeals court upheld the ruling on Thursday, stating there was “insufficient evidence of rebellion or a danger of a rebellion” and that the president could maintain law with regular forces. Sauer argued in the filing that the decision "intrudes on the president’s authority and needlessly puts federal personnel and property at risk." He described a "disturbing and recurring pattern" where federal officers enforcing immigration law face "prolonged, coordinated, violent resistance that threatens their lives and safety and systematically interferes with their ability to enforce federal law."
The administration detailed specific incidents: "Federal officers in Chicago have been threatened and assaulted, attacked in a harrowing pre-planned ambush involving many assailants, rammed in their government vehicles, shot at with fireworks and other improvised weapons, injured and hospitalized, and threatened in person and online, including by a $10,000 bounty for the murder of a senior federal official." Sauer noted that agents are forced to "desperately scramble to protect themselves and federal property, allocating resources away from their law enforcement mission."
This plea comes amid recent clashes, including the arrest of 11 protesters on Friday outside an ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker opposed the deployment, posting on X: "Militarizing our communities against their will is not only un-American but also leads us down a dangerous path for our democracy." Trump has deployed National Guard to other cities like Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Memphis, and has floated invoking the Insurrection Act for Chicago.
The Supreme Court has requested responses from state and city officials by 5 p.m. Monday, with the administration expected to reply afterward.