The state of Illinois and Chicago are suing the Trump administration over their plans to deploy the National Guard.

“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the lawsuit states in its introduction.

In the lawsuit, which names both the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago as plaintiffs, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul writes, “Defendants’ deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful.” He continues, “Plaintiffs ask this court to halt the illegal, dangerous, and unconstitutional federalization of members of the National Guard of the United States, including both the Illinois and Texas National Guard.” 

Raoul is asking for a temporary restraining order, saying deployment will cause “additional unrest,” “mistrust of police” an dharm to the state’s economy. 

Over the weekend, a federal memo obtained by CBS News revealed up to 300 members of the Illinois National Guard would be federalized and deployed to “protect federal property” and “government personnel performing federal functions.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed that memo and said he had also been told an additional 400 other National Guard members from Texas would be deployed to Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment of the National Guard to Portland on Sunday.

The quickly unfolding developments come as the administration portrays the Democrat-led cities as war-ravaged and lawless and amid Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Officials in both cities have disputed the president’s characterizations, saying military intervention isn’t needed and it’s federal involvement that’s inflaming the situation.

The lawsuit alleges that “these advances in President Trump’s long-declared ‘War’ on Chicago and Illinois are unlawful and dangerous.”  

“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the lawsuit says.  

Pritzker and Raoul will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. Monday, where they will also be joined by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. CBS News Chicago will stream that news conference live on our 24/7 news stream and on air. 

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

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Sara Tenenbaum

Sara Tenenbaum is the Senior Digital Producer for CBS News Chicago covering breaking, local and community news in Chicago. She previously worked as a digital producer and senior digital producer for ABC7 Chicago.