A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's request to immediately allow the deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois, leaving in place a lower court's order that blocked the mobilisation temporarily.
In a brief order on Saturday, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal government remains barred from deploying troops but that any out-of-state Guard members in Illinois do not need to return to their home states for now. The mobilisation had included hundreds of soldiers called up from the Texas National Guard.
US District Judge April Perry had issued an order blocking the National Guard deployment on Thursday after expressing scepticism about the administration's assertions that the soldiers were needed to protect federal agents from violent protesters.
A separate federal judge in Oregon has also blocked President Donald Trump's effort to send troops to Portland, though another appellate court appeared poised to overrule that decision during arguments earlier this week.
In both cases, the Democratic governors of the states sued Trump, arguing that the administration deliberately miscast mostly peaceful demonstrations as violent to justify further deployments.
Perry's order is set to remain in effect until at least October 23, though she could extend it.
Trump has threatened to expand his campaign to other Democratic-led cities, after sending Guard troops this year to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., despite objections from their mayors.
A trial court in Los Angeles ruled the deployment of Guard troops there during the summer was illegal, though an appeals court later granted a stay of that ruling while the administration's appeal is pending.
While the National Guard is part of the US military, during domestic deployments, it is usually controlled by governors in response to events such as natural disasters.
