The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago have launched a joint lawsuit against the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb just outside of Chicago.
President Donald Trump announced on Saturday he would deploy 300 National Guard soldiers to tackle the “out-of-control crime” in the small suburb of Broadview, IL. On Monday, he doubled down, announcing an additional 400 agents from Texas’s National Guard would also make their way West.
The Trump administration’s illegal actions have subjected, and are subjecting Illinois to serious and irreparable harm.
Illinois and Chicago Sue
The state of Illinois and the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, claiming he planned to “use American soldiers to punish his political enemies,” and this was only the most recent example in “months of threats by Trump, …Kristi Noam, and others in the Trump administration,”
The lawsuit continued to call Trump’s deployment of troops “patently unlawful” and calls on the court to “halt the illegal, dangerous, and unconstitutional federalization of members of the National Guard.”
The lawsuit cites Illinois’ right to self-governance and claims that the government’s actions will only cause more unrest in the City of Chicago. The lawsuit cited the harming of social fabric, the loss of trust in law enforcement, and the irreparable harm to Illinois businesses that the deployment has/will cause.
Illinois asks this Court to declare these actions unlawful and enjoin them.
Clashes with police this weekend
Tensions between ICE and protesters came to a head on Thursday after multiple protesters rammed and blocked in ICE Agents vehicles. One woman, a U.S. citizen, was hospitalized after being shot five times by a US Customs and Border Protection officer after ramming her car into the officer’s vehicle.
Law enforcement has not confirmed whether the victim was armed or not, contrary to DHS’s statement.
At least ten vehicles were actively attempting to impede the Federal Agents; no officers were injured by those protesters.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, posted on X that “Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.”
She continued by stating that “Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.”
Law enforcement has not confirmed whether the victim was armed or not, contrary to DHS’s statement.
After the incident on Thursday, President Trump announced on Saturday that he would deploy 300 National Guard troops to Illinois to aid the “out-of-control crime.”
Trump doubled down on that statement on Monday, threatening an additional 400 troops from Texas’s National Guard.
A consistent presence
Protesters focused their demonstration at the Broadview ICE facility, just outside Chicago, shutting down the Northbound exit of Beach Street onto Lexington Street.
Protesters have been active at this location for weeks. ICE set up three-foot-tall concrete barricades on either side of the street to control the crowd.
More than 1000 people have been detained by Immigration Enforcement in Chicago in 2025, including more than 900 during ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Police Officers tear-gassed
Numerous Chicago Police Department officers were left incapacitated after being ‘accidentally’ tear-gassed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday, Chicago Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security confirms.
Broadview City Police Chief Thomas Mills says this is not the first time that poorly trained ICE agents have tear-gassed his officers. He also cited an incident in September where he was verbally assaulted by an ICE agent, claiming that in his 37 years on the force, he had never seen Federal agents behave so violently and unprofessionally.
On Saturday, at least five officers were left incapacitated and struggling against the effects of a tear gas canister that was “recklessly” thrown from a moving SUV by ICE agents. Bystanders spoke to reporters about the drive-by attack, claiming they had to run from the gas. Not everyone affected was a part of the protest, according to CBS.
Newly (poorly) trained agents
President Donald Trump stated he aimed to double the number of ICE agents by the end of 2025. Training to become an ICE agent used to be a five-month escapade, where candidates were instilled with the letter of the law and the Constitution. ICE agents took pride in being experts in diffusion and humane arrest practices.
Since the Trump administration took over the agency, the training has been reduced to just 47 days, according to The Atlantic. ICE’s upper management has been continually shaken and stirred, as the agency fails to meet the lofty deportation targets set by Trump’s administration.
What has resulted is an agency run by what many call a group of unqualified ideologists, with California Representative Robert Garcia stating that “It is deeply concerning that DHS may be allowing a temporary appointee to function as a senior executive without proper appointment.”
ICE currently has more than 6,000 deportation officers, and the Trump administration aims to add another 8,000 by the end of 2025. ICE is offering signing bonuses of up to $ 50,000 USD and has dropped all of its age restrictions. Before August 2025, ICE agents had to be at least 21 and no older than 40; those restrictions have now been dropped. Currently, the minimum age required to become an ICE agent is 18.
The requirements to qualify are also minimal: pass a background check and meet basic fitness and medical standards; that’s it. ICE does not require applicants to have any experience in law enforcement, and within 50 days, it feels comfortable arming and deploying its trainees onto the streets.
