CHICAGO—A U.S. federal appeals court has delivered a mixed ruling, halting the deployment of federalized National Guard troops in the Chicago area but granting the Trump administration a temporary reprieve by allowing the forces to remain under federal command.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late Saturday, October 11, that the troops—totaling approximately 500 personnel including soldiers from the Texas National Guard—are prohibited from active operational deployment on the streets of Chicago and throughout Illinois while the legal challenge proceeds.

The decision upholds a lower court's finding that the Trump administration failed to provide "credible evidence" of an "insurrection" or domestic violence necessitating the mobilization of troops, as required under federal law (Title 10 U.S.C. § 12406).

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat who filed the lawsuit alongside the state's Attorney General, hailed the ruling as a major victory for state sovereignty, arguing the deployment was an illegal intrusion aimed at quelling protests near U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

However, the Appeals Court partially stayed the lower court’s order, allowing the federalization of the Guard members to remain in place. This means the troops, though barred from active duty, do not have to immediately return to their home states.

The White House has vowed to continue the legal fight, calling the situation "ongoing lawlessness." President Donald Trump, facing similar judicial roadblocks over a planned deployment in Portland, Oregon, has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act as a "last resort" if the courts or local leaders continue to block his domestic use of military forces.

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