Court dismisses Illinois lawsuit over National Guard deployment

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – U.S. District Court Judge April Perry has dismissed Illinois’ lawsuit against President Donald Trump over his deployment of National Guard troops to the state.

The judge ruled Monday that she granted the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss because the matter is “moot.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the order “a win” for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

“Today’s order concluding Illinois v. Trump confirms what has been clear to the people of Illinois from the beginning — Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to occupy our streets was a reckless and illegal abuse of power,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Raoul filed the federal complaint last October after several hundred National Guard troops reported to the Chicago area. A few days later, Perry granted the state’s request for a temporary restraining order to block the deployment.

The judge said at the time that not even “the most ardent Federalist, Alexander Hamilton,” believed one state’s militia could be sent to another state for political retribution.

The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in December that the president could not use National Guard troops in Chicago to help federal immigration enforcement.

About a week later, Trump announced he would remove members of the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

On Monday, Raoul reacted to the conclusion of the case and said there was no lawful explanation for the Guard’s deployment.

“This matter went all the way to U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the administration’s attempt to stay that lower court’s order. Now, several months later, the federal government has conceded that the orders for deployment are not operational,” Raoul said.

Dan McCaleb, Brett Rowland and Sarah Roderick-Fitch contributed to this story.