It is late in the federal courthouse at the Everett McKinley Dirksen building in Chicago. The benches are full, the air is heavy, and the words Judge April M. Perry speaks this evening already belong to the chronicle of a political turning point. Perry, a federal judge appointed by President Biden, announces a ruling that is as rare in its clarity as reason has become in Washington: The deployment of the National Guard in Illinois is halted for now. The decision comes after days of intense hearings, heated arguments, and contradictory statements from the Trump administration. While protesters outside hold banners against militarization, lawyers inside argue over the definition of a single word: rebellion. The federal government claims there is a “danger of an insurrection” in Illinois - a legal fiction President Trump uses as justification to send soldiers into American cities.
Perry sees it differently. “I have seen no credible evidence that there is a danger of a rebellion in the state of Illinois,” she says coolly.
Then comes the sentence that lingers with historical weight: “Not even Alexander Hamilton could have imagined that the militia of one state would be used against the residents of another just because the president wants to punish those who hold different views than his own.” Hamilton - one of the founding fathers of the United States, co-author of the Federalist Papers, and architect of the financial constitution - was a fervent advocate of a strong executive branch, but also a sharp defender of the separation of powers. That Perry quotes him is no coincidence. It is a warning: even the hardest Federalists would have recoiled from Trump’s understanding of power.
The lawsuit came from Illinois and the city of Chicago, represented by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. They accused the Trump administration of abusing military law to discipline political opponents. “War and insurrection are grave terms,” said Raoul’s lead attorney Christopher Wells. “The authors of the Constitution did not choose them lightly.” Wells argued that there is no rebellion, no civil war, only citizens protesting - against Trump’s brutal immigration policy and the use of ICE agents who had deployed tear gas against demonstrators and journalists in Broadview. The state demanded nothing more and nothing less than the restoration of constitutional balance. “What the president is doing to Illinois is illegal and lawless,” Wells said.
The opposing side, represented by Deputy Attorney General Eric Hamilton, painted a different picture: of attacks on federal officers, alleged weapon finds, a bomb that was never proven, and even an “agitator” who allegedly tore out an ICE officer’s beard - a claim Perry later publicly mocked. When Perry asked how many soldiers were to be deployed, Hamilton evaded the question. Two hundred from Texas, three hundred from Illinois - but “there is no upper limit.” When asked whether they could be deployed outside Chicago, he simply replied, “It could be.”
Perry was appalled. “I am trying to figure out where this would ever stop,” she said. “By your logic, every protest could be considered an insurrection.”
Her ruling was clear, but not boundless. Judge Perry has now issued a temporary restraining order explicitly prohibiting federal authorities for the next 14 days from federalizing or deploying the United States National Guard within the state of Illinois. She rejected the Trump administration’s request to suspend the order’s effect - but emphasized in court that an appeal was likely to follow. The restraining order applies to the immediate stationing or deployment of National Guard troops within Illinois. However, it does not exclude the possibility that federal agencies such as the U.S. Marshals Service or the Federal Protective Service may continue to take protective measures for their facilities - or that Illinois itself, under the command of the governor, could deploy its own guard units. In other words, Perry stopped Trump’s federal intervention but left the state’s powers untouched.
Her decision is provisional - a temporary measure until the court decides in a main hearing on the legality of the deployment. Even during the hearing, a lawyer for the Trump administration announced an appeal. The case is expected to soon reach the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, where the government will attempt to overturn the ruling.
Perry made it clear in her decision that National Guard members “are not trained in de-escalation” and that their deployment “would only add fuel to the fire” - a fire the government itself had ignited. Her ruling is not only legal but moral: A president who sends soldiers into cities because he views dissent as rebellion has lost his democratic compass.
At the same time, the same dispute was raging in Portland, Oregon - though there before an appeals court staffed with two Trump-appointed judges. They appeared inclined to permit the troop deployments. It is a pattern running through the entire republic: federal force against federal principles. It remains to be seen; the evening and the night are likely to be long once again.
But Perry has halted the state of exception - at least for now. Her ruling is a reminder that the separation of powers is not a relic but a bulwark. That law is not made in the White House, but in courtrooms where people still sit who believe in the idea that no one stands above the law - not even a president. As she left the courtroom, brief applause broke out. Not loud, but palpable. It was no triumph, but relief - a moment of release in a country that has learned that democracy must be defended, even against those who claim to be saving it.
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