President Donald Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard amid his administration’s immigration enforcement actions around Los Angeles, and the subsequent protests that followed, was “illegal,” a federal judge ruled Thursday evening.
U.S District Judge Charles R. Breyer granted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for a temporary restraining order after a hearing earlier in the day.
The ruling said the court “must determine whether the President followed the congressionally mandated procedure for his actions,” the order said. “He did not.”
“His actions were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith.”
Trump immediately appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“Today is a big day for the constitution of the United States, for our democracy, and I hope it’s a beginning of a new day in our country, when we push back against overreach, push back against authoritarian tendencies of a president that has pushed the boundaries, pushed the limit, but can push this state no longer,” Newsom said in a news conference following the ruling.
Newsom said the National Guard will be back under his authority by noon Friday.
Trump’s administration on Sunday, June 8, federalized California’s National Guard, mobilizing more than 4,000 troops to Los Angeles to respond to the protests over immigration-enforcement efforts. The president also ordered some 700 infantry Marines from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms to deploy to Los Angeles.
The administration made those moves without the request or consent of Newsom and local law enforcement officials, Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday, June 9, when announcing a lawsuit against the Trump administration.
“The court just confirmed what we all know — the military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets,” Newsom said on social media Thursday soon after the ruling was issued. “This win is not just for California, but the nation. It’s a check on a man whose authoritarian tendencies are increasing by the day. End the illegal militarization of Los Angeles now, (Trump). History is watching.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The request for the temporary restraining order alleged that the Trump administration’s use of the troops “creates imminent harm to state sovereignty, deprives the state of vital resources, escalates tensions and promotes (rather than quells) civil unrest.” It said federal troops should not be able to enforce laws in a civilian city.
The motion sought “narrow relief tailored to avoid irreparable harm to our communities and the rule of law that is likely to result if Defendants are allowed to proceed with their plans to use Marines and federalized National Guard to enforce immigration laws and other civil laws on the streets of our cities.”
In other words, Newsom sought not to stop the troops from protecting federal activities or property, but rather halt any use of them to enforce immigration or civil laws in the state.
“We’re talking about the president exercising his authority, and the president is, of course, limited in that authority. That’s the difference between a constitutional government and King George,” Breyer said earlier Thursday during the hearing, according to the Associated Press, seemingly referring to the king of England during the American Revolution.
Earlier Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused during a congressional hearing to say whether he would adhere to a court ruling that went against the administration’s placing of troops around the area.
“We should not have local judges determining foreign policy or national security policy for the country,” Hegseth said when asked.
Trump has defended the move, repeatedly over the past few days, saying sending the troops in “saved” Los Angeles.
And in its official response to California’s lawsuit, the Trump administration said the temporary restraining order request was a “crass political stunt endangering American lives.”
Typically, the authority to call up the National Guard lies with governors, but there are limited circumstances under which the president can deploy those troops. Trump federalized members of the California National Guard under an authority known as Title 10.
Brett Shumate, an attorney for the federal government, said Trump complied with Title 10 by informing the general in charge of the troops of his decision and would have the authority to call in the Guard even if he had not.
“Our position is this is not subject to judicial review,” Shumate said.
In a stark contrast to California, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe activated his state’s National Guard on Thursday “as a precautionary measure” as immigration protests were planned across the state.
“We respect, and will defend, the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or lawlessness in our state,” Kehoe said. “While other states may wait for chaos to ensue, the state of Missouri is taking a proactive approach in the event that assistance is needed to support local law enforcement in protecting our citizens and communities.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, too, has deployed more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops, along with more than 2,000 state police, to handle protests.
Meanwhile, Mayor Karen Bass instituted a curfew for a one-mile section of downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday nights that has seemed to be yielding positive results. Both nights saw less chaos and property damage than in the previous several nights of demonstrations against ongoing federal immigration raids.
Breyer is the younger brother of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Born in San Francisco, Breyer is an alumnus of Harvard and UC Berkeley School of Law. According to Politico, he was assigned the case between Newsom and Trump through a random process.
Staff writer Brian Rokos and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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