Judge Dismisses Illinois Lawsuit Against Trump

A federal judge has dismissed Illinois’ lawsuit over Donald Trump’s attempted National Guard deployment, ruling the case is now moot after the troops were withdrawn. (news.wttw.com) U.S. District Judge April Perry granted the Trump administration’s motion on April 20 and dismissed the case with prejudice, saying no Guard troops remain deployed in Illinois for the federal mission at issue. (news.wttw.com) Illinois and the city of Chicago sued in October 2025 after Trump moved to federalize Illinois Guard members and send troops from Texas and California into the state during the immigration enforcement operation called “Operation Midway Blitz.” (nbcchicago.com) Perry had blocked the deployment last fall, and that order stayed in place after an appeals court declined to intervene and the U.S. Supreme Court refused the administration’s emergency request in December 2025. (news.wttw.com) The legal fight turned on a basic question: whether a president can use military forces inside a state for domestic law enforcement without a clear statutory exception. In December, the Supreme Court said the government had not identified authority that would bypass the Posse Comitatus Act, the federal law that generally bars the military from executing civilian laws. (news.wttw.com) Illinois officials argued the threat had not fully ended because Trump wrote on Dec. 31 that “we will come back” to Illinois “in a much different and stronger form.” Perry said that post was not specific enough to keep the case alive. (wglt.org) Governor J.B. Pritzker said the ruling confirmed “what’s been clear” from the start, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the court made clear the administration’s Illinois deployment orders are defunct. Chicago’s law department said the orders can no longer be used to federalize the Guard for Chicago. (nbcchicago.com; wglt.org) The White House has maintained Trump acted lawfully to protect federal officers and property, and Trump has continued to say he believes he can send troops into Illinois again if conditions warrant it. (wglt.org; nbcchicago.com) For now, the case that began with a push to send hundreds of Guard troops into Illinois is over, and the court’s last word is that the orders behind it are no longer in effect. (news.wttw.com; nbcchicago.com)