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WASHINGTON, D.C. – America First Legal (AFL), in partnership with Boyden Gray PLLC, has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, defending President Trump’s constitutional and statutory authority to federalize the Illinois National Guard to protect federal officers, enforce the law, and restore order amid escalating lawlessness in Chicago.
For nearly 200 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the President’s determination to call forth the National Guard is not reviewable in court. Yet Illinois is asking the courts to do precisely what the U.S. Constitution forbids—second-guess the Commander-in-Chief’s lawful decision to act when local authorities will not, or cannot. Illinois’ claims of speculative “harm” stand in stark contrast to the real, documented harm already acknowledged by its own officials.
AFL’s brief explains that under 10 U.S.C. § 12406, the President may call the National Guard into federal service when he “is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.” Additionally, over 150 years of precedent in Martin v. Mott give the President the exclusive “authority to decide” whether an emergency requiring police action has occurred. Those authorities are not subject to judicial review. Nor does ultra vires review apply here: the President is not an agency subject to judicial review, and the statute commits this decision wholly to his discretion.
The facts in Chicago speak for themselves. On September 27, thirty federal agents were surrounded by protestors. When they called for assistance, a Chicago Police Department dispatcher replied that “no units would respond.” The Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department also acknowledged the lawlessness purported by protestors, admitting that they are “breaking the law” by “follow[ing] or box[ing] in the vehicles of federal agents.” Continuous obstruction of federal enforcement makes plain that the city’s “regular forces” cannot execute the law, precisely the circumstance § 12406 was designed to address.
While Illinois speculates about imagined harm, federal agents on the ground face real threats to their safety and to the faithful execution of federal law. The President’s measured, proportionate decision to mobilize the guard was both lawful and necessary to restore order, not an invitation for courts to veto his constitutional duty.
“The President of the United States has undoubted power under the Constitution and federal law to act and protect communities across the United States—like Chicago. The courts must side with law and order, not political theater, and render a decision consistent with plain law and common sense.” said Gene Hamilton, President of America First Legal.”
Read the amicus brief here.
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