The US Supreme Court dealt a blow to President Donald
Trump’s immigration crackdown on Tuesday by blocking his deployment of National
Guard troops in Chicago.
The conservative-dominated court kept in place for now a
lower court order barring the deployment of troops on the streets of the city
in the midwestern state of Illinois.
“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 court said in an unsigned order.
Three conservative justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas
and Neil Gorsuch — dissented.
The Republican president has sent National Guard troops to
three Democratic-led cities this year — Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis —
but his efforts to deploy soldiers in Portland and Chicago have been tied up in
the courts.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, reacting to the
court ruling, 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.
JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, who
strongly opposed the deployment along with the Democratic mayor of Chicago,
welcomed the ruling, calling it 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.
After two lower courts blocked Trump from sending troops
into Chicago, his administration made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
In his filing with the top court, Solicitor General John
Sauer claimed federal agents in Chicago were being “forced to operate under the
constant threat of mob violence.”
The court order blocking deployment of the National Guard
“improperly impinges on the president’s authority and needlessly endangers
federal personnel and property,” Sauer added.
The Supreme Court rebuff of the emergency appeal was a rare
defeat for Trump at the top court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority.
It was not immediately clear how Tuesday’s decision would
affect the other cases where Democratic-ruled states have challenged Trump’s
National Guard deployment.
California and Oregon have both filed legal challenges
against the Trump administration’s extraordinary domestic use of the National
Guard.
Trump sent troops to Los Angeles earlier this year to quell
demonstrations sparked by a federal crackdown on undocumented migrants.
A district court judge ruled it unlawful, but an appeals
court panel allowed the Los Angeles deployment to proceed.
Some 300 National Guard troops remain activated in the
Chicago area but are not engaged in operations.
AFP
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com