President Donald Trump announced on December 31 that he is withdrawing National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon, following a Supreme Court ruling that blocked his deployment plans.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on December 23 against the Trump administration's plan to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois, rejecting an emergency request that claimed troops were needed to protect federal agents involved in immigration enforcement in the Chicago area.
In its decision, the majority wrote: '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 ruling marks a significant setback for Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement strategy. His deployment of troops to Los Angeles this summer marked the first time in 60 years that a president had taken control of a state's National Guard without a governor's consent. In June, Trump seized control of California's National Guard against Governor Gavin Newsom's wishes and deployed thousands of troops to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids.
Trump said he is dropping his push 'for now' after legal roadblocks hung up the effort. The preliminary decision, while focused on Chicago, is expected to bolster similar legal challenges to National Guard deployments in other cities, setting significant new limits on presidential power to do so.
The administration has brought state-run National Guards under federal control in several U.S. cities as part of ramped-up immigration enforcement operations, deploying units in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Memphis, Portland, and Chicago to protect federal property and personnel.
The withdrawal comes amid ongoing legal challenges in California and Oregon as well, signaling a broader retreat from the controversial policy.
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