Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee has joined a coalition of more than 100 local government leaders nationwide in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump administration’s federalization and deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Chicago and surrounding areas.

Christian Menefee

 

The amicus brief, filed in State of Illinois v. Trump before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, supports Illinois’s challenge to the federal government’s order to deploy hundreds of Texas National Guard members to Chicago over the objections of state and local officials.

The coalition contends that the administration failed to meet statutory requirements for federalizing the National Guard and relied on vague justifications—including references to small, peaceful protests—as a pretext for military intervention.

Menefee noted that the move raises significant concerns about local authority and the precedent such federal actions could set for other jurisdictions. The filing emphasizes that National Guard units are intended to serve their communities and should not be used as instruments of political enforcement across state lines.

This marks the second instance in which Menefee has joined legal challenges against the Trump administration’s use of military forces in domestic matters. He previously participated in an amicus brief in Newsom v. Trump, opposing the federalization of California’s National Guard and the deployment of U.S. Marines in Los Angeles.

The coalition is urging the appellate court to uphold the lower court’s ruling, which blocked the deployment and rejected the administration’s argument that the president possesses unlimited authority to federalize the National Guard without factual justification or judicial oversight.

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