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By Dalia Faheid, CNN (CNN) — Texas National Guard troops are expected to leave Chicago and return to their home state very soon, a source familiar with the planning told CNN, after weeks in limbo as a court battle played out over the legality of their deployment. Specific timing is unclear but preparations are now underway for their departure, the source said. Two hundred federalized troops had arrived in the city over a month ago with a mission from the Trump administration to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other US Government personnel – but instead stayed waiting at training bases for weeks. The deployment was halted by a federal judge who said there was no justification to bring in the military. And the Supreme Court took the rare step of asking for additional briefing in that high-profile case. The Texas National Guard members had been activated by President Donald Trump under Title 10 status in early October, and drew immediate backlash amid increasingly tense protests at the ICE facility in the suburb of Broadview, Illinois. The administration also federalized 300 troops from the Illinois National Guard last month to respond to the greater Chicago area. On Friday, US Northern Command said, “in the coming days, the Department will be shifting and/or rightsizing our Title 10 footprint in Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago to ensure a constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city.” Northern Command declined to comment further when asked what this will mean for troops in those cities. The administration has framed demonstrations in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, as “violent protests” carried out by “domestic terrorists,” arguing that military deployments to the cities are necessary to protect federal immigration personnel and property — despite state and city leaders’ insistence that the protests have been largely peaceful and any violence has been easily dealt with by local law enforcement. The departure of Texas troops comes about a month after US District Court Judge April Perry issued a scathing ruling halting the deployment in Chicago, saying she had seen “no credible evidence that there has been rebellion in the state of Illinois” that would justify federalizing National Guard soldiers and calling Department of Homeland Security assessments of the protests “unreliable.” The Supreme Court late last month asked for additional briefing in the case, questioning whether those troops can be used under the federal law at issue to augment immigration officials. The Department of Justice and Illinois officials were asked to address that issue in a series of new briefs due through mid-November. Legal sagas over deployments The legal sagas over the Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles deployments – dealing with the balance of presidential and state power – have seen numerous twists and turns as they unfolded in both district courts and before appeals judges. While attempting to deploy hundreds of troops to Chicago and Portland, the Trump administration compared the cities to a war zone, saying there is either “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion” there. “You look at a place like Portland, it’s just — it’s ridiculous, when they say that there’s no problem. The place is — it was on fire over the weekend,” the president said last month. The deployments there came after Trump mobilized thousands of National Guard members to the Los Angeles area this summer to quell protests – a move the state’s Democratic leaders cast as an unnecessary escalation amid demonstrations over the administration’s immigration policies. California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration in June over the federalization of the California troops and joined a lawsuit in Oregon over Trump’s attempt to send federalized troops in Los Angeles to Portland to respond to protests there. A federal judge ruled in September that Trump violated federal law by using thousands of federalized California National Guard members and US Marines…

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - It looks like Santa will still be coming this year after Toys for Tots, a non-profit run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, was able to set up shop in a warehouse big enough for their distribution. This comes after the organization almost had to cancel their giveaway this year due to not having a warehouse to work out of. Now they have one just in time for the holidays, and Donna Smith, the Toys for Tots Assistant Coordinator, says the nine-thousand-square-foot warehouse is a shared space with U-Haul after they got permission from the landlord to sublease the back room. Donna says it's perfect for them to do their work, considering the last one had them feeling extremely crammed, but more importantly, it's a space for them to continue providing new toys for kids in need. "As a parent, it breaks the parent's heart that they can't give their children what they need for Christmas. So we're not benefiting, just putting smiles on the kids' faces Christmas morning. We're making parents feel...like they're not failing at being a parent. Hard times is not a failure, it's a fact of life and it happens. And nobody should feel like a failure when they're going through hard times," says Smith. But unfortunately, this warehouse is only a temporary fix. "The end of January, we're packing everything up and putting it in storage again, because we don't have a facility lined up for next year," says Smith. Donna says they are looking for something long-term, now that Toys for Tots is a year-round program. If you or someone you know is interested in providing a space for Toys for Tots to work out of, you can call 719-235-6815. Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here. The post Holiday miracle! Local organization finds temporary warehouse for Toys for Tots appeared first on KRDO.