Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee has joined a national coalition of more than 100 local government leaders in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump administration’s unlawful federalization and deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Chicago and surrounding areas.
The amicus brief, filed in State of Illinois v. Trump before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, supports Illinois’s challenge to President Trump’s order federalizing hundreds of members of the Texas National Guard and attempting to deploy them to Chicago over the objections of state and local officials.
“Once again, the Trump administration is attempting to intimidate residents of American cities by spreading lies about their crime rates to justify a domestic military action. This deployment of military forces on city streets subverts local government authority. There is no legal justification for this domestic military incursion.,” Menefee said. “This time, they want to send Texas National Guard members hundreds of miles away to police protests in Chicago against the will of Illinois officials. It’s wrong, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s un-American.”
The coalition argues that the administration has failed to meet the statutory requirements for federalizing the National Guard and is instead relying on vague justifications—including small, peaceful protests—as a pretext for military action.
“Harris County residents should be deeply concerned about this precedent,” Menefee continued. “If the President can federalize Texas National Guard members and send them to Chicago today, what’s to stop him from doing the same thing here in Houston tomorrow? Our Guard members serve their communities here at home. They shouldn’t be weaponized as political pawns against other American cities.”
This is the second time Menefee has joined legal efforts challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful military deployments. He previously joined an amicus brief in Newsom v. Trump opposing the federalization of California’s National Guard and the deployment of U.S. Marines in Los Angeles.
“The district court got it right when it blocked this deployment,” Menefee said. “The administration’s argument that the President can federalize the National Guard anytime, anywhere, for any reason—without factual justification or judicial review—is, as the court said, ‘shockingly broad.’ We’re asking the Seventh Circuit to keep that dangerous theory from becoming reality.”
Good. I don’t really have anything to add here, just that I approve. Gotta keep up the fight at every opportunity.