The Chicago National Guard deployment of October 2025 ended without a single troop setting foot on a Chicago street. The Trump administration federalized roughly 500 Guard members from Illinois and Texas to protect federal immigration agents and property in the Chicago area, but federal courts blocked the deployment within days, the Supreme Court refused to lift that block in a 6-3 decision on December 23, 2025, and all troops were demobilized by January 21, 2026.
What Triggered the Deployment
The move grew out of an aggressive federal immigration enforcement campaign. On September 8, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” targeting undocumented individuals with criminal records in Illinois. Roughly 300 federal agents used Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago as their logistical hub.1DHS. ICE Launches Operation Midway Blitz2ABC7 Chicago. Chicago Federal Intervention Live Updates
Protests built at the ICE processing center in Broadview, a Chicago suburb, through September. On September 19, federal agents and protesters clashed outside the facility; demonstrators and journalists reported being hit with pepper balls and tear gas, and ICE said protesters had assaulted officers, slashed tires, and trespassed.3CNN. ICE Chicago Protests Broadview
The immediate trigger came on October 4, 2025. Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot and wounded motorist Marimar Martinez near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue on the Southwest Side. DHS said Martinez had rammed a law enforcement vehicle while armed. She survived.4New York Times. Federal Agent Shooting Chicago A federal judge later dismissed all charges against Martinez with prejudice.5WTTW News. Feds Dismiss Charges Against Woman Shot by Border Patrol Agent That same day, the White House issued a memorandum invoking 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to federalize at least 300 members of the Illinois National Guard for 60 days, citing a “coordinated assault by violent groups” on federal facilities.6White House. Department of War Security for the Protection of Federal Personnel and Property in Illinois
Who Was Sent and Where They Went
Governor J.B. Pritzker refused to call up Illinois Guard members himself, saying he would not “further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people” and describing the demand as “outrageous and un-American.”7Capitol News Illinois. Over Pritzker’s Objections Trump Sending 300 National Guardsmen to Chicago The federal government federalized the Illinois troops over his objections.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent an additional 200 members of the Texas National Guard, who arrived on October 7. The combined force of roughly 500 troops was stationed at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, Illinois, about an hour southwest of Chicago.8NBC News. 500 National Guard Troops Deployed to Chicago9New York Times. Trump National Guard Illinois Texas Some troops were also sighted at the immigration facility in Broadview.10Texas Tribune. Texas National Guard Abbott Deployment Chicago
Despite arriving in early October, the troops stationed at Elwood never deployed into the streets of Chicago because of the court orders that followed.11New York Times. National Guard Withdrawal Chicago Portland
Chicago and Illinois Fought Back Immediately
Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on October 6 prohibiting federal agents from using city property for enforcement actions, allowing private property owners to deny entry to federal agents without a warrant, and directing city police not to collaborate with the National Guard or federal agents.12WTTW News. Johnson Vows to Resist Trump’s National Guard Deployment The White House called the order a “publicity stunt.”13Fox News. Chicago Police Not to Collaborate With National Guard
Johnson had earlier pointed to year-over-year reductions of more than 30% in homicides, 35% in robberies, and nearly 40% in shootings, warning that a Guard presence had “the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement.”14City of Chicago. Statement on National Guard Chicago Pritzker called the planned deployment “an unwarranted and unconstitutional occupation.”15Politico. Pritzker Blasts Plan for National Guard Deployment
The Court Rulings That Stopped It
Judge Perry’s Restraining Order
On October 6, 2025, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed Illinois v. Trump (No. 25-cv-12174) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, joined by the City of Chicago. The complaint argued the deployment exceeded the president’s authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406, violated the Posse Comitatus Act’s prohibition on using the military for domestic law enforcement, and infringed Illinois’s Tenth Amendment sovereignty.16Illinois Attorney General. Attorney General Raoul Files Lawsuit to Stop Unlawful Deployment of National Guard
Three days later, U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a temporary restraining order barring the federalization and deployment. She said she had seen “no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” found the administration’s “perception of events” in Chicago “simply unreliable,” and said she was “very much struggling to figure out where this would ever stop.” Perry pointed to four unrelated legal decisions in the preceding 48 hours that had “cast significant doubt” on DHS’s credibility, including failed grand jury indictments of protesters the administration had cited as evidence of lawlessness.17WBEZ. Federal Judge Partially Grants Illinois and Chicago Bid to Block Deployment On October 22, she extended the order indefinitely.18PBS NewsHour. Judge Blocks National Guard From Chicago Indefinitely
Seventh Circuit
On October 16, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s motion for a stay. The panel found the statutory predicates for federalization under § 12406 had not been met and that deploying troops over the state’s objection was a “likely violation” of Illinois’s Tenth Amendment rights. The court rejected the argument that the president’s decision to federalize the Guard was unreviewable.19U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. State of Illinois v. Trump, No. 25-2798
The Supreme Court: Trump v. Illinois
The administration took the case to the Supreme Court on an emergency application. On December 23, 2025, the Court denied the request to stay Judge Perry’s order in a 6-3 decision.20SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Effort to Deploy National Guard in Illinois
The unsigned majority opinion turned on the meaning of “regular forces” in § 12406(3), which allows the president to federalize the Guard when he is “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.” The Court held that “regular forces” means the active-duty armed forces, not civilian law enforcement. That reading left the administration with a logical problem: because the Posse Comitatus Act bars the military from executing domestic laws without express authorization, the government could not argue both that protecting federal property was not “executing the laws” and that § 12406’s law-execution trigger applied. The Court found the government “failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”21U.S. Supreme Court. Trump v. Illinois, No. 25A443
Justice Kavanaugh concurred on narrower grounds, saying the president had not yet made the required statutory determination that military forces were insufficient. Justices Alito and Thomas dissented, arguing the majority had reached an issue the parties had not raised. Justice Gorsuch filed a separate dissent favoring a narrow resolution based on the existing record.22Brennan Center for Justice. Trump v. Illinois: Narrow Supreme Court Decision, Broad Implications
How It Ended and What It Cost
The 200 Texas Guard members returned home before Thanksgiving 2025. The 300 Illinois Guard members finished demobilizing by November 19, 2025.11New York Times. National Guard Withdrawal Chicago Portland After the Supreme Court’s ruling, Trump announced on December 31, 2025 that he would no longer seek to send troops to Chicago, though he suggested on social media the pause might be temporary: “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again.”23OPB. Oregon National Guard Trump All remaining federalized personnel completed demobilization by January 21, 2026.
The Congressional Budget Office reported the Chicago deployment cost taxpayers $21 million.24WTTW News. National Guard Deployment to Chicago Cost $21M
On April 20, 2026, Judge Perry granted the administration’s motion to dismiss the original lawsuit as moot because all federalized troops had been withdrawn. The dismissal was with prejudice, and the court confirmed that the specific deployment orders are “defunct” and cannot be used to re-federalize or redeploy Guard troops in Illinois.25WTTW News. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging National Guard Deployment in Illinois26ABC7 Chicago. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Trump Administration National Guard Deployment
Part of a Broader Pattern
Chicago was one of three cities. The administration simultaneously sent federalized Guard troops to Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California using the same statutory authority. Both deployments were blocked. In Portland, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a permanent injunction on November 7, 2025, finding the president “did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard” and that protests had been “predominately peaceful” since June 2025.27OPB. Portland Oregon National Guard Permanent Injunction In California, Judge Charles Breyer ruled the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act because troops had engaged in unauthorized law enforcement activities including arrests and traffic blockades. The Ninth Circuit ordered California Guard members returned to state control by the end of December 2025.28Jurist. Explainer: Does Trump Have Unquestioned Power to Deploy Troops
Not the Same as Operation LeGend
The 2025 deployment should not be confused with Operation LeGend, the federal law enforcement surge in Chicago in July 2020. That initiative sent hundreds of FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Marshals agents to augment existing federal-local task forces investigating unsolved homicides and gun violence. It was a civilian law enforcement operation, not a military one, and it was conducted with at least some cooperation from local officials.29White House Archives. Remarks by President Trump on Operation LeGend The 2025 deployment involved federalized military personnel sent over the objections of the governor, the mayor, and the state attorney general, and it was struck down by every court that reviewed it.