A federal judge quizzed a Trump administration attorney Thursday on the role National Guard troops would play if deployed in Chicago to assist ICE agents with immigration enforcement, at one point questioning “where is the rebellion?”
U.S. District Judge April Perry was hearing arguments in a packed downtown Chicago courtroom from attorneys for the state of Illinois and the Justice Department.
Perry pressed Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton on whether National Guard troops would only be stationed around federal buildings or also in neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. Hamilton responded that troops also could be used to “protect ICE agents” in the field.
Perry called the Trump administration’s claims of a so-called rebellion “audacious” and questioned the information being used to deploy the guard.
“What if the DHS folks are not tethered to reality? Does that matter?” she said, asking “who are the rebels” and “are they well armed?”
Thursday’s hearing before Perry was over a request to block the deployment of Illinois and Texas Guard members in Illinois.
Chicago and Illinois filed a lawsuit on Monday to stop the deployments, calling them unnecessary and illegal. In a court filing in the lawsuit, the city and state say protests at a temporary ICE detention facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview have “never come close to stopping federal immigration enforcement.”
Christopher Wells, a lawyer with the Illinois attorney general’s office, began Thursday’s hearing by urging Perry to stop the National Guard deployment that “threatens the careful balance of our Constitutional system.”
Hamilton characterized Chicago as beset by what he called “tragic lawlessness,” noting a recent confrontation in which two residents were accused of using their vehicles to ram into and box in a Border Patrol vehicle. One person was shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent.
Some Guard members ordered to Illinois by President Donald Trump now are protecting federal property near Chicago.
New video showed uniformed troops appearing to arrive at the Immigration Customs and Enforcement processing facility in suburban Broadview early Thursday morning, with soldiers seen behind a fenced area carrying shields, duffle bags and other equipment in and out of the building.
In a statement sent to NBC Chicago, the Village of Broadview confirmed that three vans carrying 45 members of the Texas National Guard arrived at the federal building late Wednesday night.
“During their patrols, Broadview police officers observed the vans parked in the rear of 2000 25th Ave. and all of the guards were sleeping,” the statement said. “We let them sleep undisturbed. We hope that they will extend the same courtesy in the coming days to Broadview residents who deserve a good night’s sleep, too.”
The Broadview facility has been the site of numerous protests and tensions between activists and masked, armed federal agents, with rubber bullets and chemical agents like tear gas deployed and barricades erected.
The new images come after the U.S Northern Command confirmed that approximately 500 soldiers from various units of the Texas and Illinois National Guards were activated in the Chicago area on a 60-day mission to protect federal agents and facilities.
“These soldiers are employed to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property,” the U.S. Northern Command said in mission update.
City officials in Joliet told NBC Chicago they were notified Tuesday that the Texas National Guard would be stationed at the Army Reserve in Elwood, about 50 miles outside Chicago. Footage captured by NBC 5 and Telemundo Tuesday and Wednesday showed uniformed troops on the ground at the facility, along with dozens of trucks and what appeared to be fencing and mobile housing.
Court filings said there are approximately 200 federalized National Guardsmen in the State of Illinois, and that the Illinois Army National Guard has been authorized to “mobilize 300 members of the Army National Guard, who are currently mustering to ensure readiness.”
Wednesday, federal Judge Sara Ellis said sufficient evidence exists to suggest that protesters and the press are “at risk of injury” because government agents had acted indiscriminately in the past. Ellis issued a temporary restraining order Thursday with guidelines for how agents can interact with protesters and the press.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump both defended the decision to federalize the National Guard during a press availability Wednesday.
“(We’re doing this to) keep our federal officers safe, to keep our federal buildings safe, (and) we’re not gonna have it any more from these thugs,” Bondi said.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/dJ71XAf
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