Judge blocks National Guard deployment in Illinois for 2 weeks

A judge on Thursday blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area for at least two weeks, finding no substantial evidence that a “danger of rebellion” is brewing in Illinois during Trump's immigration crackdown.

It’s a victory for Democratic officials who lead the state and city and have traded insults with President Donald Trump about his drive to put troops on the ground in major urban areas.

“The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

The judge said the administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection.

It wasn’t clear what the troops will do now, including a small number outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview. Officials at U.S. Northern Command directed questions to the Department of Defense, which declined to comment citing a policy that the department doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit was filed Monday by Chicago and Illinois as Guard members from Texas and Illinois were on their way to a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. All 500 are under the U.S. Northern Command and had been activated for 60 days.

Some slept in vans Wednesday night outside the Broadview building, near Chicago, and emerged Thursday morning on patrol behind portable fences. For weeks, the ICE site has been the site of occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents.

Earlier Thursday, U.S. Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton said the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal properties and government law enforcers in the field, not “solving all of crime in Chicago.”

The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws. But Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

“Chicago is seeing a brazen new form of hostility from rioters targeting federal law enforcement,” Hamilton told the judge.

Perry, however, wasn’t swayed.

“I have seen no critical evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” she said hours later.

The judge said the order would expire on Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. She set an Oct. 22 hearing by telephone to determine if the order should be extended for another 14 days.

Perry said the actions of the Department of Homeland Security are largely rooted in Trump’s "animus toward Illinois elected officials.” She expressed skepticism of the federal government’s characterization of protests in Broadview.

“DHS’s narrative of events is simply unreliable,” said Perry, who was appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sat in a corner of the courtroom, which overflowed into a room with video of the hearing.

The city and state have called the deployments unnecessary and illegal.

“The president does not have the unfettered discretion to turn America’s military against its own citizens when they exercise their constitutional rights," Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said.

Trump, meanwhile, has portrayed Chicago as a lawless “hellhole” of crime despite statistics that show a significant drop in crime. He said Pritzker and Johnson should be arrested for not protecting agents during immigration sweeps. Pritzker's response: “Come and get me.”

Also Thursday, a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether Trump had the authority to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. The president had planned to deploy them in Portland, where there have been mostly small nightly protests outside an ICE building.

A judge on Sunday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the move. Trump had mobilized California troops for Portland just hours after the judge first blocked him from using Oregon's Guard.

Two dozen other states with a Democratic attorney general or governor signed a court filing in support of the legal challenge by California and Oregon. Twenty others, led by Iowa, backed the Trump administration.

Chicago’s federal court issued other decisions this week related to immigration enforcement. In one, a judge said immigration agents have repeatedly violated a 2022 consent decree outlining how ICE can make so-called warrantless arrests. That decree requires ICE to show documentation for each arrest it makes for people besides those being targeted.

Immigrant advocacy groups believe hundreds of people arrested around Chicago could qualify for reduced bond or have ankle monitors removed.

Trump previously sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington. In Tennessee, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said troops would begin patrolling Friday. Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports the role.

Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she hoped the Guard would direct traffic and have a presence in retail corridors, but not set up checkpoints or make the city “feel like there is this over-militarization in our communities.”

In a California case, a judge in September said the deployment was illegal. By that point, just 300 of the thousands of troops sent there remained and the judge did not order them to leave.

Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, contributed to this report.

Personnel walk inside an immigration processing facility in Broadview, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Protestors yell at Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents driving out of an immigration processing facility in Broadview, Ill., Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Mayor Paul Young speaks during a public event Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Personnel walk inside an immigration processing facility in Broadview, Ill., on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

Sheriff's police officers stand near patrol vehicles outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

A protester is arrested by police and federal officers outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements they have made, two people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The investigation, which both Walz and Frey said was a bullying tactic meant to threaten political opposition, focused on potential violation of a conspiracy statute, the people said.

The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a pending investigation by name.

CBS News first reported the investigation.

The investigation comes during a weekslong immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul that the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest recent immigration enforcement operation, resulting in more than 2,500 arrests.

The operation has become more confrontational since the fatal shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7, with agents pulling people from cars and homes and frequently being confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave. State and local officials have repeatedly told protesters to remain peaceful.

In response to reports of the investigation, Walz said in a statement: “Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.”

U.S. senators Kelly, from Arizona, and Slotkin, from Michigan, are under investigation from the President Donald Trump administration after appearing with other Democratic lawmakers in a video urging members of the military to resist “illegal orders." The administration has also launched a criminal investigation of Powell, a first for a sitting federal reserve chair.

Walz’s office said it has not received any notice of an investigation.

Frey described the investigation as an attempt to intimidate him for “standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets.”

The U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis did not immediately comment.

In a post on the social media platform X following reports of the investigation, Attorney General Pam Bondi said: “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.” She did not specifically mention the investigation.

State authorities, meanwhile, had a message for any weekend protests against the Trump administration’s immigration sweep in the Twin Cities: avoid confrontation.

“While peaceful expression is protected, any actions that harm people, destroy property or jeopardize public safety will not be tolerated,” said Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

His comments came after Trump backed off a bit from his threat a day earlier to invoke an 1807 law, the Insurrection Act, to send troops to suppress demonstrations.

“I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

Federal officers in the Minneapolis-area participating in the enforcement operation can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters, who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when these people are observing the agents, a U.S. judge in Minnesota ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez ruled in the case filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists, which were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

Government attorneys argued that the officers have been acting within their legal authority to enforce immigration laws and protect themselves. But the ACLU has said government officers are violating the constitutional rights of Twin Cities residents.

A Liberian man who has been shuttled in and out of custody since immigration agents broke down his door with a battering ram was released again Friday, hours after a routine check-in with authorities led to his second arrest.

The dramatic initial arrest of Garrison Gibson last weekend was captured on video. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan ruled the arrest unlawful Thursday and freed him, but Gibson was detained again Friday when he appeared at an immigration office.

A few hours later, Gibson was free again, attorney Marc Prokosch said.

“In the words of my client, he said that somebody at ICE said they bleeped up and so they re-released him this afternoon and so he’s out of custody,” Prokosch said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Gibson, 37, who fled the civil war in his West African home country as a child, had been ordered removed from the U.S., apparently because of a 2008 drug conviction that was later dismissed. He has remained in the country legally under what’s known as an order of supervision, Prokosch said, and complied with the requirement that he meet regularly with immigration authorities.

In his Thursday order, the judge agreed that officials violated regulations by not giving Gibson enough notice that his supervision status had been revoked. Prokosch said he was told by ICE that they are “now going through their proper channels" to revoke the order.

Minneapolis authorities released police and fire dispatch logs and transcripts of 911 calls, all related to the fatal shooting of Good. Firefighters found what appeared to be two gunshot wounds in her right chest, one in her left forearm and a possible gunshot wound on the left side of her head, records show.

“They shot her, like, cause she wouldn’t open her car door,” a caller said. “Point blank range in her car.”

Good, 37, was at the wheel of her Honda Pilot, which was partially blocking a street. Video showed an officer approached the SUV, demanded that she open the door and grabbed the handle.

Good began to pull forward and turned the vehicle's wheel to the right. Another ICE officer, Jonathan Ross, pulled his gun and fired at close range, jumping back as the SUV moved past him. DHS claims the agent shot Good in self-defense.

Richer and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Ed White and Corey Williams in Detroit; Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu; Hallie Golden in Seattle; and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, attend a vigil honoring Renee Good on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn., outside the Minnesota State Capitol. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Teyana Gibson Brown, right, wife of Garrison Gibson, reacts after federal immigration officers arrested Garrison Gibson, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Teyana Gibson Brown, second from left, wife of Garrison Gibson, reacts after federal immigration officers arrested Garrison Gibson, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Garrison Gibson is arrested by federal immigration officers Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Garrison Gibson becomes emotional as he is arrested by federal immigration officers Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A man is arrested by federal immigration officers Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A man becomes emotional as he is arrested by federal immigration officers Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers prepare to enter a home to make an arrest after an officer used a battering ram to break down a door Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, including one wearing a 'NOT ICE' face covering, walk near their vehicles, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Richfield, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A person looks out of their vehicle as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk away, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Richfield, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)