Judge Blocks 500 National Guard Troops From Deploying to Illinois, Calling DHS Accounts Unreliable

On October 9, 2025, U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of about 500 National Guard troops, drawn from Texas and California, to the Chicago area. Texas Guard members had already arrived at the ICE facility in Broadview. Ruling from the bench, Perry said she had "seen no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois," noted that the protests at issue never exceeded roughly 200 demonstrators, and found that most of the evidence pointed to federal agents rather than protesters escalating confrontations. She said DHS's account added to "a growing body of evidence that DHS' version of events are unreliable," and that a Guard deployment would "only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started." Her written opinion followed on October 10.

The ruling, issued days after a parallel order in Oregon, turned on whether courts may examine the factual predicate for federalizing the Guard rather than defer to the executive's characterization of conditions on the ground.

The administration appealed. The Seventh Circuit declined to allow the deployment while it considered the case and upheld the temporary order on October 16, 2025.