A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s use of National Guard troops to aid immigration enforcement protests in Los Angeles earlier this year is illegal.
Judge Charles Breyer said the Trump administration violated a 19th-century law when it sent about 4,000 troops and 700 Marines to California in June to quell violent protests and aid federal agents in immigration enforcement efforts.
After Trump mobilized the troops, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, sued the administration and argued they were in violation of the law that prohibits the military from enforcing domestic laws. However, the administration has argued the troops were in Los Angeles to protect federal officers and property and not to enforce laws.
The Posse Comitatus Act is a statute from 1878 that prohibits a president from using the military as a domestic law enforcement agency without congressional approval. Breyer found the administration in violation of the statute by using troops for crowd control during protests.
The issue began when Los Angeles residents began protesting the detention and deportation action being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Protests turned violent, prompting Trump to weigh in and federalize members of the California National Guard, despite Newsom and city leaders objecting.
Trump’s order to call up the National Guard to Los Angeles and bypass the request of a governor is a move used infrequently by presidents.
Judge Breyer, a Clinton appointee, had earlier issued an emergency order in June where he said Trump had to give control of the troops back to Newsom. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned Breyer’s emergency order.
The appeals court includes two Trump appointees and one appointee from former President Joe Biden. The panel said Trump had constitutional authority to deploy the guard against protesters since the demonstrations turned violent.
The Trump administration will likely appeal Breyer’s latest ruling.
In a statement posted online, Newsom’s office celebrated the ruling by saying the people of California “won much needed accountability against Trump’s ILLEGAL militarization of an American city!”
The ruling comes as Trump has deployed National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., under the District of Columbia’s Home Rule Act, which allows the president to federalize the city’s law enforcement. Trump said crime in Washington was out of control, but is getting better with the federal oversight.
He’s also threatened to send National Guard troops to other Democratic-led cities like Baltimore and Chicago. It sparked a battle with local leaders, who say they do not need troops in their cities to control crime, and said they would sue if Trump tried to send troops.
Trump deployed the troops to Los Angeles by declaring there was an emergency need to protect the federal buildings in the area. But in Chicago or any other city, it would be a different story. Without a clear emergency as the reason to send troops, Trump would be openly defying the governor and beginning a legal battle. Even if he overrode the governor, the troops would be limited to only protecting federal assets and employees, nothing more.