Saying “political opposition is not rebellion,” a federal appeals court in Chicago on Thursday left intact a district judge’s order barring the president from deploying National Guard troops in the city and state pending the outcome of the appeal.
In its 18-page ruling, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the findings by U.S. District Judge April Perry were not “clearly erroneous” and that “the facts do not justify” President Donald Trump’s actions in Illinois.
The three-judge appellate panel unanimously agreed with Perry that even giving the president “great deference” when it comes to his power to call up the military, there was no evidence that he needed troops to help enforce immigration law or quell any kind of organized rebellion.
“The spirited, sustained, and occasionally violent actions of demonstrators in protest of the federal government immigration policies and actions, without more, does not give rise to a danger of rebellion against the government’s authority,” the opinion by Judges Ilana Rovner, David Hamilton, and Amy St. Eve read.
The judges went on to note that while the Trump administration has claimed that protesters and local politicians are hampering immigration-enforcement efforts, the evidence — and even the administration’s own statements — don’t back that up.
Two of the three judges on the panel, Rovner and St. Eve, were appointed to the 7th Circuit by Republican presidents, with St. Eve’s appointment coming during Trump’s first term. Hamilton was appointed by Democrat Bill Clinton.
Federal facilities, including the processing facility in Broadview that’s become a flashpoint for protests, have remained open, and while there has been some violence it was quickly contained, the panel wrote.
“At the same time, immigration arrests and deportations have proceeded apace in Illinois over the past year, and the administration has been proclaiming the success of its current efforts to enforce immigration laws in the Chicago area,” the opinion stated. “The administration accordingly is also unlikely to succeed on this argument.”
The White House in response sent out a written statement Thursday saying the “facts haven’t changed,” and reiterating the president expects “to be vindicated by a higher court.”
“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like (Gov. JB) Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote.
Representatives for Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul could not immediately be reached for comment.
The ruling keeps in effect Perry’s granting of a temporary restraining order Thursday halting Trump’s plan to send federalized National Guard troops into the Chicago area to act as a security force during the administration’s controversial immigration enforcement action known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The Department of Justice argued in a filing last week that Perry’s order “improperly impinges on the Commander in Chief’s supervision of military operations, countermands a military directive to officers in the field, and endangers federal personnel and property.”
The motion asked the higher court to freeze Perry’s order while an appeal is pending, saying the National Guard should be allowed to “protect federal personnel and property” while the litigation continues to play out.
The National Guard has been activated to Chicago 18 times from 1877-2021. Here’s a breakdown.
In a response, attorneys for Raoul said Perry was correct in halting Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional plan to dispatch federalized troops to Chicago with no clearly defined scope of the mission, its duration, or any “provable factual underpinning.”
It was clear, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued, that “absent an injunction, the federal government could and would use the troops consistent with the unbounded scope of the federalization orders — that is, to assist any federal agency on any federal mission that is occurring anywhere in Illinois.”
The dueling motions were a clear indication that the legal battle over Trump’s National Guard plans is far from over.
Perry on Thursday blocked Trump from deploying National Guard troops to the city and state, saying she had no faith in the government’s claims of out-of-control violence and that it was federal agents who started it by aggressively targeting protesters with tear gas and militaristic tactics.
Trump has claimed ongoing violence and clashes between protesters and immigration agents in Chicago and other U.S. cities justified sending federalized troops onto the streets as security, even as local and state officials accused the president of manufacturing a crisis to justify unnecessary — and unprecedented — force.
In her oral ruling from the bench, Perry, a Biden appointee, said National Guard troops are “not trained in de-escalation or other extremely important law enforcement functions that would help to quell these problems,” and that allowing troops to come into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”
The judge also said the Trump administration’s attempts to cast protesters as violent rebels “cannot be aligned” with the view of local officials. Perry said she had no faith in the declarations of federal officials submitted to the court due in large part of a growing body of evidence that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s views are “simply unreliable.”
Perry cited several assault cases that had been dismissed against protesters and other orders from federal judges in Chicago entered against DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“In the last 48 hours in four separate unrelated legal decisions from different neutral parties, they all cast significant doubt on DHS’ assessment of what is happening on the streets of Chicago,” Perry said.
Perry also said a rebellion is defined as “a deliberate organized resistance openly opposing the laws and government as a whole” by means of armed violence. “I have found no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois.”
Pritzker cheered the ruling in a statement on social media, writing, ”Donald Trump is not a king — and his administration is not above the law.”
A notice of appeal was filed with the 7th Circuit hours after Perry’s ruling, but the court has not yet set a briefing schedule.
Perry, meanwhile, will hold a hearing next week to determine if her two-week restraining order should be extended.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM CDT