WASHINGTON

The US Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump on Tuesday from sending National Guard troops to Chicago to back his immigration crackdown, according to local media.

The nation’s highest court rejected the Trump administration’s urgent plea to reverse US District Judge April Perry’s ruling in October that had halted the troop deployment in Chicago and nearby regions.

The administration had asked the Supreme Court to permit the unusual deployment of troops despite opposition from Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker, asserting that federal courts should not override the president’s authority to activate the National Guard.

However, the Court rejected the request to block the order in what appears to be a 6-3 decision.

In an unsigned ruling, the Supreme Court determined that “at least in this posture,” the Trump administration had not demonstrated that Title 10—the statute cited by Trump—allows him to federalize the National Guard "in the exercise of inherent authority to protect federal personnel and property in Illinois."

In October, US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) said a total of 500 National Guard troops arrived in the Chicago area to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other government personnel who are performing federal functions.

Trump so far has sought to deploy National Guard and active-duty troops to five major Democratic-led cities — Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland and Memphis — while also threatening potential military intervention in several others, including Baltimore, New York City, New Orleans, Oakland, San Francisco and St. Louis.