The Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court’s decision blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, rejecting the Trump administration’s emergency request to have it overturned. 

In a 6-3 decision, the court said that the administration had  “failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.” Three conservative justices, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch, dissented.

A White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, told the Sun, “The President promised the American people he would work tirelessly to enforce our immigration laws and protect federal personnel from violent rioters.”

“He activated the National Guard to protect federal law enforcement officers, and to ensure rioters did not destroy federal buildings and property,” she wrote. “Nothing in today’s ruling detracts from that core agenda. The Administration will continue working day in and day out to safeguard the American public.”

In October, a federal district court judge, April Perry, blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago.

The Trump administration had argued the troops were needed to “protect federal personnel and property from violent resistance against the enforcement of federal immigration laws.” 

However, Judge Perry said the government did not present evidence that there was a “danger of rebellion” in Illinois. She also said the government did not show that the protests in the state had interfered with immigration enforcement action. 

The Supreme Court’s decision, while not final, suggests the justices may block the federal government’s deployment of National Guard troops to other cities. 

Earlier this month, the Trump administration was ordered to end its deployment of National Guard troops at Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the federal government is appealing to another federal judge who blocked the deployment of troops to Portland, Oregon. 

Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision marks a rare loss for President Trump at the Supreme Court, where he has enjoyed a string of successes with emergency appeals throughout the first year of his second term. The justices has handed Mr. Trump wins on such hot-button issues as his ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. 

In May, the high court granted the administration’s request to let it fire the heads of two independent agencies, the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. 

However, Mr. Trump suffered a setback last week when the justices allowed the nation’s immigration judges to pursue a legal challenge to a rule that bars them  from speaking about their work in their personal capacities. That marked the first time since the start of the president’s second term that the court has rejected one of his administration’s emergency appeals.