The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled on whether President Donald Trump acted lawfully in seeking to deploy National Guard troops to Illinois, according to conservative Justice Samuel Alito.
In an interview published Monday with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Alito confirmed that the high court is still considering the issue, which stems from the Trump administration's effort to protect federal personnel and enforce immigration law amid unrest near Chicago.
Trump has argued that deploying federal or National Guard forces to Democrat-run cities and states — including Chicago and California — is necessary due to public safety concerns and rising crime.
Those efforts, however, have been blocked by lower courts and strongly opposed by Democrat state leaders.
The Illinois dispute arose following protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview last fall.
After a lower court prevented the deployment, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
During the interview, Alito discussed the court's workload, including its use of the "shadow docket," which involves emergency applications and procedural rulings.
"Since January, I believe we've had more than 70 of those, and they are not minor things," Alito said.
"Yesterday, we issued a ruling in one involving the Texas redistricting.
"Right now, we have before us — and we have not yet decided about — the lawfulness of President Trump's calling up the Illinois National Guard," the justice added.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the administration's request with the Supreme Court in October, arguing that immediate action was necessary to protect federal agents.
"Local political leaders immediately sue in federal district court to prevent the President from deploying federal forces to protect federal agents and enable them to enforce federal immigration law," Sauer wrote in the filing.
"The district court then issues an opinion granting injunctive relief against the President's action that downplays or denies the ongoing threat to the lives and safety of federal agents, substitutes the court's own judgment for the President's about the need for military augmentation, and gives little or no weight to the United States' interest in enforcing federal immigration law."
The Supreme Court's involvement, Sauer wrote, was needed to prevent "ongoing and intolerable risks to the lives and safety of federal personnel while this Court considers this application."
Democrat leaders in Illinois, including Gov. JB Pritzker, have said that deploying National Guard troops without the governor’s consent is unconstitutional and unnecessary, arguing that state and local law enforcement were already handling the situation.
In a statement in October, Pritzker said, "There is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois.
"State, county, and local law enforcement have been working together and coordinating to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people's ability to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights.
"I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump's acts of aggression against our people."
As of Monday, the Supreme Court had not issued a ruling.
SCOTUSBlog reported that the court could decide the matter "at any time."
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