The Supreme Court won’t let President Donald Trump deploy National Guard troops in Chicago for now, the first time the high court has weighed in on the president’s efforts to use the military to enforce immigration laws and fight crime in cities led by Democrats.
In a rare loss for Trump at the high court, the justices on Dec. 23 kept in place a hold that a lower court placed on the use of troops while litigation over the administration’s actions continues.
In an unsigned opinion, the court’s majority said the Trump administration “failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”
And the president can’t rely on “inherent constitutional authority,” the majority said. Three of the court’s six conservatives – Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – dissented.