South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined a coalition of 22 state attorneys general in submitting an emergency legal brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. The brief supports President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to Chicago with the aim of protecting federal officers and property.
The move comes after a U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois issued a stay that blocked the Trump administration from sending National Guard troops to Chicago. The coalition is requesting that the Supreme Court lift this stay.
Attorney General Wilson explained his position by referencing concerns about illegal drugs and gang activity in South Carolina, which he attributes to immigration across the southern border. “President Trump is simply enforcing federal immigration law that Congress passed,” Attorney General Wilson said. “But activists have gathered in Chicago to protest, sometimes violently, and have threatened federal officers and harmed federal property. President Trump’s order to send in a small number of National Guard members to defend against this lawlessness is responsible, constitutional, and authorized by law.”
According to the legal brief, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview Processing Center in Chicago has experienced violence and unlawful actions by rioters. The attorneys general wrote, “More than one hundred people have surrounded the Center and ‘assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property.’” They also noted that ICE agents faced further threats beyond this location; agents were reportedly attacked and rammed by vehicles while on patrol 15 miles away from the Broadview Center.
Wilson co-led the filing with attorneys general from Iowa, Montana, and Oklahoma. The states joining them include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia.
The full text of their amicus brief can be found at this link: You can read their brief here.
