(NewsNation) — Illinois gov. JB Pritzker has vowed to contest the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago in federal court if Trump sends military to the city.
“We’re going to immediately go to court, if National Guard or other military troops are sent to, deployed to the city of Chicago, immediately go to court,” Pritzker said Thursday.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul confirmed to NewsNation that the state would “likely” contest the deployment of the National Guard to Chicago in court, arguing that it would “more than likely be unlawful” and unconstitutional for Trump to do so.
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Raoul referenced the militia clause in the Constitution, which “gives Congress the power to determine how the National Guard is federalized,” he said, not the president.
Trump cited Title 10 of the U.S. Code in his June deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles, which a federal judge recently ruled is illegal. The code allows the president to deploy “Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws.”
Raoul argues that Chicago isn’t dealing with a “foreign invasion,” “rebellion,” or “inability to put in effect federal law.”
Raoul also brought up the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the military from participating in civilian law enforcement in the U.S., as previously reported by NewsNation.
“I’m not against federal resources coming to Chicago to fight crime, but let’s do it in a collaborative way,” Raoul concluded.
