The judge says allowing troops in the state would only ‘add fuel to the fire’, after actions by ICE agents prompted protests in the city
A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump’s deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers in Illinois, five days after another US judge blocked a similar deployment in Portland, Oregon.
US District Judge April Perry said that permitting Guard troops in the state would only “add fuel to the fire”, after hearing more than two hours of arguments from lawyers for the US government and the state of Illinois, which sued the Trump administration over the deployment.
The judge said her full, written order will be made available on Friday.
On Thursday morning, Guard soldiers had been seen patrolling at a suburban Chicago immigration facility that has become a frequent target for protests in recent weeks.