In a major setback for US President Donald Trump, the top court refused to overturn a decision against his plan to send National Guard troops to Chicago to support an immigration crackdown.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request by President Donald Trump to allow the deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois.
Trump had sought an overruling of an order by a lower court that temporarily halted his plans to send the military reserve force to the state.
The US president already sent troops to several cities across the country in recent months.
His administration has insisted that such deployments were necessary to protect immigration officers amid protests against their raids.
The Republican-majority court said that the government had “failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”
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However, Trump still has a few legal options to go around the court to deploy troops to Chicago, although that could pose a political risk.
Tuesday’s court decision could affect other lawsuits challenging Trump’s attempts to deploy the military in other Democratic-led cities.
The ruling also marks a rare Supreme Court setback for Trump, after repeated wins in emergency appeals since he took office again in January.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president “activated the National Guard to protect federal law enforcement officers, and to ensure rioters did not destroy federal buildings and property.”
“Nothing in today’s ruling detracts from that core agenda,” Jackson said.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, called the ruling a “big win for Illinois and American democracy.”
“This is an important step in curbing the Trump Administration’s consistent abuse of power and slowing Trump’s march toward authoritarianism,” Pritzker said.
