What we covered here
• A dizzying lineup of legal disputes is unfolding in President Donald Trump’s push to deploy US troops to Democratic-led cities. A federal judge said she will extend an order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago.
• While Trump leans on a new federal appeals court ruling backing his deployment of the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, he’s urging the US Supreme Court to allow a similar effort in Chicago. The latter case is one of the most significant emergency requests to reach the high court lately and almost certain to spill over as litigation plays out elsewhere, including Memphis.
• Trump also plans to send dozens of federal agents to San Francisco for a new round of immigration and anti-crime enforcement efforts as early as this week, a source told CNN.
• Immigration raids keep flaring up across the country. In New York, bystanders stepped in during a raid, while in Los Angeles, a US marshal and an undocumented TikTok streamer were hurt in a shooting at an ICE stop.
Our live coverage has moved here.
Why this Illinois representative wants ICE to release bodycam footage of his encounter with them
Illinois state Rep. Hoan Huynh, who said federal agents pulled a gun on him during an encounter in Chicago, wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release its own video of the incident.
Here’s what he told CNN’s Brianna Keilar:
Illinois State Representative Hoan Huynh (D) tells CNN's Brianna Keilar about his encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, saying at one point a gun was pointed "directly at my face" while community patrolling north of downtown Chicago. Huynh says the officers put the gun down after he began recording.
Oregon files brief supporting reconsideration of appeals court ruling on Portland National Guard deployment
The state of Oregon and city of Portland filed a brief Wednesday night in support of a request for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling allowing the federal government to deploy the Oregon National Guard to Portland without the state’s consent.
The brief calls for an “en banc” review, which would involve a larger group of judges from the appeals court revisiting the ruling that was handed down in a 2-1 decision from a three-judge panel earlier this week.
“By greenlighting the federalization of Oregon’s National Guard for reasons divorced from space, time, or facts in Portland, the panel majority affronts Oregon’s sovereignty and erodes the rule of law,” the filing said.
The legal battle erupted following President Donald Trump’s decision in September to send federal troops to Portland, citing violent protests and threats to an ICE facility.
The move, which federalized 200 Oregon National Guard members, drew strong objections from state officials, who said the administration’s claims were overblown. A federal court blocked the deployment, calling the justification “untethered to the facts” and noting no immediate threat, the filing says.
The appellate panel later overturned the ruling, siding with the administration’s claim that the deployment was necessary to address unrest.
Earlier Wednesday evening, the Trump administration filed a brief urging the court not to grant an en banc review and let the ruling from the three-judge panel stand.
San Francisco mayor and California governor prepare response to anticipated federal crackdown
Federal immigration agents are expected to arrive in the San Francisco area as early as Thursday, a source told CNN, deepening the rift between state and federal authorities over immigration enforcement in Democratic-led cities.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has announced comprehensive preparations to respond to any federal action, including by public safety agencies, the Department of Emergency Management, critical infrastructure departments, and the city attorney, who is “equipped to take necessary legal action.”
Vowing to protect city residents, Lurie delivered a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents and the National Guard to cities in his most forceful comments on the issue yet.
“In cities across the country, masked immigration officials are deployed to use aggressive enforcement tactics that instill fear so people don’t feel safe going about their daily lives,” Lurie said at a press conference on Wednesday, flanked by local officials.
Lurie said San Francisco would remain a sanctuary city, a status it declared in 1989, in which local police are barred from assisting federal immigration enforcement — a policy that the mayor said reflects the city’s long-standing effort to preserve trust between law enforcement and communities.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, too, has shown defiance in response to potential deployment of federal immigration agents and National Guard to San Francisco. He vowed Wednesday to sue the Trump administration over any deployment.
“Send troops to San Francisco and we will sue you,” Newsom said on social media.
Trump administration asks appeals court not to reconsider Portland National Guard case
In a new filing Wednesday night, the Trump administration asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals not to reconsider a ruling that allows the administration to deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon.
The court ruled earlier this week that a lower court judge exceeded her authority in blocking Trump’s decision to deploy troops in Portland. The court is deciding whether to reconsider the panel’s ruling en banc, which means a larger group of judges from the appeals court will reconsider the case, instead of the standard three-judge panel.
In the filing, the administration argues that Trump has the authority to federalize the National Guard in Portland under Title 10 and that the court’s decision “does not warrant further review.”
“The extensive violence and threats of violence in Portland, which local law-
enforcement officials have been unwilling or unable to control, impede the ability of ICE and other federal officials to enforce federal law and constitute a rebellion against federal authority,” the filing continues. “Although the violence has somewhat abated in the past month, that is largely because of an intensive deployment of federal protective and other forces, which has become unsustainable.”
Trump says he’s empowered to send National Guard troops to any city he sees fit as legal battles play out. Here’s the latest
As a federal judge said she will extend an order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, President Trump said he feels empowered to send troops into any city he sees fit after an appeals court ruling this week endorsed his deployment into Portland, Oregon.
The Trump administration is urging the US Supreme Court to allow a similar deployment to Chicago, and the justices are reviewing whether lower federal courts were correct to block Trump from deploying hundreds of troops to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the city’s suburbs.
Here are the latest developments in the states where legal battles are playing out:
California
- A panel of three judges with the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, made up of two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee, didn’t rule from the bench on Wednesday. The court is weighing whether to vacate a district court judge’s order from June that handed Gov. Gavin Newsom an early victory in the case when he ordered control of National Guard troops back to the state.
- Meanwhile, Gov. Newsom announced he will deploy the California National Guard under his command on a “humanitarian mission” to support food banks amid food benefits delays during the federal government shutdown.
- The Trump administration is planning to send dozens of federal agents to another city, San Francisco, on Thursday for a new round of immigration and anti-crime enforcement efforts as early as this week, a source familiar tells CNN.
Oregon
- A federal judge in Oregon will hold a hearing Friday to consider whether to dissolve or suspend the temporary restraining order she issued earlier this month, which bars the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard soldiers into Portland.
- Earlier this week, a three-judge panel from the appeals court ruled that a lower court judge exceeded her authority in blocking President Trump’s decision to deploy troops in Portland.
- A group of 26 former governors submitted a brief Wednesday in support of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rehearing the ruling en banc, which means a larger group of judges from the appeals court will reconsider the case, instead of the standard three-judge panel.
Illinois
- US District Court Judge April Perry ordered an extension of the order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago through final judgement after she temporarily blocked the deployment in the state earlier this month.
- The extension will likely remain in place until there’s a full trial on the issue or the Supreme Court weighs in. The Supreme Court could rule quickly, possibly within days.
Tennessee
- Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said at a news conference there has been a “surge” in arrests, bookings and bail settings for misdemeanor offenses in Memphis that is linked to the arrival of some federal agents and National Guard troops to the city.
- Harris and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit last week against the governor and the state’s attorney general for allowing the deployment of the Tennessee National Guard to Memphis at the direction of Trump.
- Yenisey Rodríguez, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, said at the news conference “the meat of our case” is the request for a temporary injunction, which will be considered at a court hearing on November 3. A state district court judge on Monday denied their request to temporarily prevent the deployment before the hearing.
California preparing for “Massive ICE deployment” coming to San Francisco, state AG tells CNN
San Francisco is preparing for a “massive ICE deployment” to imminently descend upon the Bay Area as part of the latest round of immigration and anti-crime enforcement efforts taking place in major cities across the United States, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNN’s Omar Jimenez today.
Recent intelligence indicates immigration enforcement will be in the city in the coming days, Bonta said, adding that its unclear exactly when agents would arrive.
“We’ve only heard what the President has said,” Bonta added. “We take him at his word.”
ICE raids in Los Angeles earlier this year were quickly followed by the deployment of the California National Guard, Bonta said.
“It might be that the Trump administration will send National Guards, or at least attempt to, in connection with and in conjunction with the ICE raids that seem imminent in San Francisco,” Bonta said. “We don’t know for sure but we’re preparing for it.
A source familiar previously told CNN the newly-planned surge, which is expected to include a large complement of US Customs and Border Protection officers, could begin arriving in the San Francisco area on Thursday. Final plans for the deployment, including where agents may be assigned, have not been finalized and could be called off due to publicity in advance, the source said.
In response to CNN’s request for comment on the reported deployment, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency is, “targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens—including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists—in cities such as Portland, Chicago, Memphis and San Francisco.”
“As it does every day, DHS law enforcement will enforce the laws of our nation,” the spokesperson added.
Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters march peacefully near federal immigration courthouse in Manhattan
Several hundred people marched peacefully on Wednesday in New York City’s Foley Square in lower Manhattan, protesting against Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city, according to CNN reporting on the ground.
Police officers were seen standing along a perimeter, many of whom were holding helmets but were not wearing them. The federal immigration court and ICE district court office is located at 26 Federal Plaza in Foley Square.
Protesters were holding up signs that read, “Defend democracy,” “ICE out of NYC now,” and “No troops in our city,” among others.
As the crowd thinned into Wednesday evening, a protest organizer thanked the protesters for showing up, saying: “Today, we held the streets around this horrible place, federal plaza, where our sisters and brothers are being held. And we will be back as long as it takes to end these deportations.”
Trump asks federal judge to unblock Oregon National Guard deployment today, court filing says
The Trump administration reiterated its request that a federal judge in Oregon drop or pause an October 5 temporary restraining order barring National Guard troops from any state from deploying in Portland, court documents show.
While a virtual hearing on the matter is scheduled for Friday morning, the Trump administration wants US District Judge Karin Immergut to make a decision today “because of the urgency of this matter and because Defendants’ entitlement to the relief requested is clear,” the brief filed this evening said.
The filing comes after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday overturned the first order filed on October 4, which applies to the Oregon National Guard, and indicated they believe the two orders “rise and fall together.”
While the second order is still in place, all National Guard troops are barred from deploying in Portland.
On Friday, Immergut will consider whether to dissolve or suspend the temporary restraining order she issued October 5, which bars the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard soldiers into Portland.
In her hearing Friday, Immergut will also ask the Justice Department and attorneys for Oregon and Portland to discuss a point that may complicate her decision: Judges with the Ninth Circuit are weighing whether to rehear the decision that struck down Immergut’s first restraining order.
If the appeals court judges decide to hold this rehearing, called an “en banc” hearing, the previous decision will be thrown out and a new one will be made by an 11-judge panel, as opposed to the standard 3-judge panel.
For now, the appeals court has not announced whether it will rehear the case en banc.
New York Attorney General urges residents to submit images of ICE activity following chaotic Chinatown raid
New York Attorney General Letitia James is urging residents to share photos, videos and other documentation of federal immigration enforcement actions in the state following a chaotic Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid yesterday.
The documentation can be submitted using the Office of the Attorney General’s online portal, James said. CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The request comes a day after 14 people were arrested during a chaotic ICE raid on Chinatown’s Canal Street in Manhattan. The popular and highly trafficked area is well-known for its street vendors who sell counterfeit designer goods.
DHS said nine of those arrested were in the country illegally and had “violent rap sheets” including “robbery, burglary, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, drug possession and forgery.” They are originally from Mali, Senegal, Guinea and Mauritania, according to DHS.
In video obtained by CNN, people could be seen protesting the arrest of the street vendors, and trying to intervene by stopping traffic. DHS said five additional people were arrested: four for assaulting law enforcement and another for obstruction.
Many of the ICE officers were masked and armed, video shows. City and state leaders have condemned the operation, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Federal agents take Illinois driver into custody after driver allegedly tried to crash into ICE vehicle
A driver in Cicero, Illinois, who allegedly attempted to hit an ICE vehicle was taken into custody by federal agents today.
When the ICE vehicle and the other vehicle reached a red light at an intersection, the driver allegedly accelerated, disregarding the red light and colliding with a third car, according to the Cicero Police Department. There were no injuries from the crash.
Federal agents provided statements to Cicero investigators and left the scene, according to police. A small crowd later gathered and additional Cicero police officers were called “as a precaution,” but “the crowd dispersed peacefully” and the scene was cleared within 45 minutes, police said.
Cicero police had initially responded to a call around 11:15 am that a CBP vehicle was rammed at an intersection, according to the Cicero Police Department. When police arrived, officers determined the crash involved two vehicles, neither of which belong to CBP.
Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino and armed agents were spotted at the scene of the crash. Video at the scene shows a large police presence, a crowd filming and yelling at agents and the crash blocking the intersection.
Cicero police are investigating the crash and CBP is investigating alleged attempts to ram their vehicle, according to police.
CNN has reached out to Customs and Border Patrol for comment.
Federal agents slated to arrive in San Francisco area for new enforcement operation, source says
The Trump administration is planning to send dozens of federal agents to the San Francisco area for a new round of immigration and anti-crime enforcement efforts as early as this week, a source familiar tells CNN.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump threatened to send the National Guard to San Francisco as his administration continues an effort to crack down on a growing list of cities it claims to be ridden with crime.
The newly-planned surge, which is expected to include a large complement of US Customs and Border Protection officers, could begin arriving in the San Francisco area on Thursday, the source said.
The administration’s planned deployment of federal agents to the area was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The law enforcement source told CNN final plans for the deployment, including where agents may be assigned, have not been finalized and could be called off due to publicity in advance.
Trump previously toyed with the idea of deploying federal troops to the Bay Area when he told FBI Director Kash Patel San Francisco was among the “great cities that can be fixed.”
Order restricting federal tactics at Chicago protests is in place through early November
A sweeping temporary restraining order restricting the crowd control tactics of federal agents against journalists and others at Chicago protests was extended until early November as the plaintiffs in the case ask the judge to further enforce the order in a motion filed yesterday, federal court documents show.
The order issued by US District Judge Sara Ellis on October 9 was initially granted for 14 days and would have expired tomorrow. A preliminary injunction hearing in the case is set for November 5, according to a court filing.
The plaintiff’s motion comes two days after Ellis, in a hearing Monday, pressed federal officials over the response to ongoing and intense protests in Chicago amid Operation Midway Blitz. During a hearing last week, Ellis said she had concerns about whether her order was being followed.
Sen. Jeff Merkley delivers 4th longest Senate floor speech in modern history to protest Trump
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours on the Senate floor Tuesday after announcing on social media that he was going to protest President Trump’s “grave threats to democracy.”
Merkley began his floor remarks at 6:24 p.m. ET Tuesday. He ended by delivering the fourth-longest Senate floor speech in modern history as he continued speaking into Wednesday evening.
The senator pointed to the Trump administration previous halting of research grants for universities in its battle over campus oversight as well as the recent indictments of several of Trump’s political foes and the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland.
Remember: Portland, Oregon, has been one of the blue cities at the forefront of the Trump administration’s push for federal troops. The president has cited protests outside the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility to justify the call-ups of troops. Trump is leaning on a new federal appeals court ruling backing his deployment of the National Guard to the city.
What we know so far about Trump's legal victory over National Guard troop deployment to Portland
The Trump administration has been given the green light to send the Oregon National Guard into Portland after a federal appeals court on Monday overturned a lower court’s order to bar the deployment.
“After considering the record at this preliminary stage, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority,” the 2-1 ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday said.
The ruling, supported by two judges appointed by President Trump, overturns a temporary restraining order issued by US District Judge Karin Immergut, who last week extended two orders blocking the mobilization of federal troops to Portland. Because the second decision is still in force, troops can’t immediately be mobilized.
Immergut will hold a hearing Friday to consider whether to dissolve or suspend the temporary restraining order she issued earlier this month.
It also marks a big win for the administration as it continues to battle other Democratic-led cities over troop deployment — efforts local and state leaders say are a disproportionate response to protests against the administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown.
Here’s what else we know.
Federal judge extends order blocking National Guard from Chicago
US District Court Judge April Perry says she will extend an order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago through final judgement.
Perry temporarily blocked the deployment in Illinois earlier this month. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow Guard troops to be deployed.
The extension will likely remain in place until there’s a full trial on the issue or the Supreme Court weighs in. The Supreme Court could rule quickly, possibly within days.
Arrival of federal agencies to Memphis has led to “surge” of misdemeanor arrests, mayor says
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris says a “surge” in arrests, bookings and bail settings for misdemeanor offenses in Memphis is linked to the arrival of some federal agents and National Guard troops to the city.
At a Wednesday news conference, Harris said preliminary data shows the number of people booked for misdemeanors at the Walter L. Bailey Jr. Criminal Justice Center has increased in recent weeks, compared to the same period last year and in 2023.
The mayor and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and the state’s attorney general for allowing the deployment of the state’s National Guard to Memphis at the direction of Trump. On Monday, a state district court judge denied their request to temporarily prevent the deployment before a hearing on November 3 in Nashville, according to CNN affiliate WMC.
Yenisey Rodríguez, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, said at the news conference “the meat of our case” is seeking a temporary injunction, which will be heard at the court hearing.
Rodríguez said the plaintiffs’ attorneys are not concerned the denial of the temporary restraining order indicates “any weakness in our case or anything about the future of this litigation.”
Tennessee state Rep. GA Hardaway, a Democrat, said state legislators “haven’t had the opportunity to debate any of the issues around the National Guard.”
Appeals court weighs Trump's continued deployment of California National Guard
Attorneys for California pressed a federal appeals court Wednesday to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to continue deploying members of the Golden State’s militia to the Los Angeles area months after he initially sent them there.
The panel of three judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously lifted a lower court order requiring the president to relinquish control of thousands of National Guard troops from the state. Now, the judges are considering whether they should completely wipe away that order.
The panel — which included two Trump appointees and a judge appointed by former President Joe Biden — didn’t rule from the bench on Wednesday. But several of them seemed interested in California’s arguments that the circumstances on the ground Trump cited as reason to deploy troops to the state had changed dramatically since June, and that his justification for continuing to federalize them should be looked at skeptically.
Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, asked DOJ attorney Eric McArthur if it’s the administration’s view that “no matter how much conditions on the ground changed,” courts were powerless to second-guess the president’s determination that he needed to federalize members of a state’s militia to help enforce federal laws.
“Yes,” McArthur replied. “I just don’t see a basis in the text of the statute for a court to be making that determination. The court would have to, in essence, make up its own standard about when the National Guardsmen have to be released from service.”
Another Trump appointee, Judge Eric Miller, said because the law Trump invoked to call up members of the state’s troops “says the president ‘is’ unable, with the regular forces, to execute the laws, not ‘was’ some distant time in the past when he decided to federalize them … doesn’t that suggest that it has to be tied to what current conditions are?”
Separately, a broader panel of judges from the Ninth Circuit will not rehear the three-judge panel’s June ruling that allowed Trump to maintain control over the troops, according to a filing Wednesday. A judge had requested a vote on whether to have a larger panel of judges review the earlier ruling that lifted the lower court’s order and failed to receive the required majority in favor of en banc consideration.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Correction: A previous version of this post misidentified the president who appointed appellate judge Jennifer Sung. President Joe Biden appointed her.
Illinois officials to investigate reports of ICE illegally swapping or altering license plates
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said his office will investigate reports of ICE agents illegally tampering with or removing license plates from vehicles as federal agents have moved into the city streets of Chicago.
Giannoulias shared video circulating on social media that shows an ICE agent confronting a person filming the vehicle before the agent is heard saying, “You can record all you want. We change the plates out every day.”
“Swapping out Illinois license places on Illinois registered vehicles is illegal,” said Giannoulias. “We are investigating these allegations as we speak,” adding his office launched a hotline on Wednesday for people to report such violations.
A report by the Chicago Sun-Times said the announcement came two weeks after the newspaper shared evidence with the secretary of state revealing instances of US Department of Homeland Security officers driving without license plates.
Penalties include fines and potential jail time, and Giannoulias said his office has the authority to suspend or revoke the vehicle’s license plates. “No one, including a federal agent, is above the law,” he said.
CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.
Chicago National Guard deployment hearing resumes
A court hearing on whether to extend an order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago has resumed following a break.
US District Court Judge April Perry earlier told the plaintiffs and defendants there are three options at today’s hearing: converting the temporary restraining order to a more permanent preliminary injunction; a hearing on the preliminary injunction; or a full trial on the issue “on merit.”
The hearing resumed after Perry gave all sides time to talk among themselves to figure out what the best option is.
