Federal Judges Issue Restraining Orders Prohibiting National Guard From Deploying in Illinois and Protecting First Amendment Rights as Protests Continue in Chicago

Federal Judges have issued rulings temporarily blocking the Trump administration from mobilizing the National Guard in Illinois and the use of certain types of weapons and tactics during protests.

Protesters gathered in Grant Park in Chicago for a rally and march against the deployment of National Guard troops in the area and continued ICE raids. Photo by Aaron Cynic.

On Thursday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Trump administration from “ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois" until at least October 23rd.

Speaking from the bench in her ruling, U.S. District Judge April Perry said that the Department of Homeland Security’s perception of events in and around Chicago that those protesting ICE raids are engaged in a “rebellion” are “simply unreliable,” according to The Chicago Tribune.

Judge Perry said that deploying the National Guard on the streets of Chicago would only make an already volatile situation worse. She said that troops are “not trained in de-escalation or other extremely important law enforcement functions that would help to quell these problems,” and mobilizing them would “only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker celebrated the decision, writing on Bluesky that the Trump administration is “not above the law.”

“Donald Trump is not a king — and his administration is not above the law. Today, the court confirmed what we all know: there is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago.”

Some 500 National Guard troops began deploying in the Chicagoland area on Wednesday. Some were seen outside the ICE detention facility in suburban Broadview.

The ruling comes one day after thousands of Chicagoans took to the streets in the Loop to protest both the deployment of the Guard and continued ICE raids in the area, which have terrorized communities since the beginning of “Operation Midway Blitz” last month. ICE has disappeared more than 1,000 people in the Chicagoland area since the operation began.

Chanting "Chicago isn’t licking boots, no Trump, no ICE, no troops,” and "up up with liberation, down down with deportations,” they marched along Michigan Avenue to Trump Tower after a rally beginning in Grant Park.

A person dressed as the Statue of Liberty at a rally in Chicago before a march against the deployment of National Guard troops and continuing ICE raids in the area. Photo by Aaron Cynic.

“What we are seeing is an administration that is sending troops in to scare us into silence,” Alderwoman Jessie Fuentes told the crowd. “To punish dissent. And we will not allow that here in the city of Chicago.” Fuentes was violently handcuffed and detained by ICE agents at a local hospital in her ward while advocating for a person ICE had brought there after detaining them.

For weeks, residents protesting the administration’s continued kidnappings throughout the area along with journalists and others have been met by heavily armed agents who’ve deployed tear gas, pepper balls, flash bang grenades, and other munitions and tactics indiscriminately and without warning.

Photos by Aaron Cynic

Federal agents have attacked peaceful protesters and journalists alike outside the facility in Broadview on a regular basis and tear gassed a large swath of the Brighton Park neighborhood after shooting a motorist which they accused of allegedly ramming a vehicle, though evidence suggests otherwise. Agents also tossed tear gas out of a vehicle onto a street near a school in Logan Square, and have violently confronted residents for legally filming their activities, something elected officials in Illinois have encouraged.

Federal agents attack protesters outside the ICE dention facility in Broadview, Illinois. Photo by Chris Riha.

Also on Thursday U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis issued a temporary restraining order preventing federal officers from using these tactics and weapons against peaceful demonstrators, members of the clergy, and journalists reporting in the area.

"Individuals are allowed to protest,” Judge Ellis said while issuing the order. “They are allowed to speak. That is guaranteed by the First Amendment of our constitution, and it is a bedrock right that upholds our democracy.”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include multiple media outlets like the Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago, and Raven Geary and Steve Held of Unraveled Press, along with the Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians Local 54041, and several clergy members who have been targeted by agents for weeks, according to a press release from Loevy and Lovey, the law firm representing them.

Steve Art from the firm celebrated the ruling, saying:

"For weeks, federal forces sent to Chicago have terrorized residents. They have used incredible violence against civilians, against demonstrators, against religious and political leaders, and against the press. They hope to scare us into silence and submission. But the community here in Chicago will not be bullied. Today, because of the work of hundreds of brave community members, a federal judge has entered an injunction prohibiting the illegal conduct of federal agents in the Chicago area. We applaud the Court’s ruling, which will protect constitutional rights and many members of our community."

“I saw snipers on the roof of the detention center, pointed down at us simply trying to pray from our beliefs, in what we believed was a country of freedom,” said Father Brendan Curran, a Dominican priest who has led prayer vigils outside the Broadview facility for nearly 20 years.

"Today's ruling would not have been possible without the bravery of the Plaintiffs and many others who stood up in the face of egregious state violence and misconduct," said Daniel Massoglia, Director of the Civil Rights Clinic at First Defense Legal Aid. "It sends a powerful message in favor of press freedom, religious freedom, and the freedom to dissent against government abuses."