ISTANBUL

Attorneys for the US state of Illinois and Chicago, its largest city, filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Monday, urging the justices to maintain an existing order that blocks the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, local media reported.

A lower court’s temporary restraining order is set to expire within three days. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul asked the court to reach the same conclusion as the lower courts, arguing that overturning the restriction would “irreparably harm” the state, ABC News reported.

In their filing, lawyers for Illinois and Chicago said the Trump administration’s attempt to lift the ban rests on “mischaracterizations of the facts on the ground.” They maintained that state and local law enforcement have effectively managed protest activity across Illinois and that no credible evidence supports the need for federal intervention.

The brief also contends that the existing order --which permits the federalization of the Illinois National Guard but prohibits its deployment to Chicago -- “safeguards the careful balance of power struck by the Constitution.”

“The Framers carefully apportioned responsibility over … the National Guard … between the federal government and the States, granting the federal government the authority to call up the (National Guard) only for specific purposes and at specific times,” the attorneys wrote, emphasizing that Washington must respect this constitutional balance.

The Trump administration sought to deploy units of the Illinois and Texas National Guard to the Chicago area, arguing they are needed to protect federal agents and ongoing immigration enforcement operations.

Illinois state and Chicago officials condemned the move as having “no legal justification” and as an intrusion into state affairs, and launched legal action before the deployment could take effect.

Illinois’ governor, JB Pritzker, has been especially outspoken in criticizing President Donald Trump’s push for troops in Chicago, claiming he is laying the groundwork to deploy troops to cities opposed to his presidency ahead of next year’s critical midterm congressional elections.