Judge blocks Trump’s National Guard deployment in LA with sharp rebuke

The Trump Administration must end its deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.

Judge Breyer granted a preliminary injunction to California officials who opposed President Trump’s use of state troops since June, when the administration seized control of the guard — against Governor Gavin Newsom’s wishes — to confront protests against immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles.

The ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for the Trump administration, which has deployed National Guard troops to several Democratic-led cities across the country, claiming they are needed to crack down on crime and protect federal immigration facilities and officers.

Nearly every deployment is currently tied up in a legal battle, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The first of such deployments was to Los Angeles this summer, after Trump seized control of the California National Guard and sent more than 4,000 troops to the city. That number has since dropped to around 100, but the administration has sought to extend the federalization of the state’s guard several times, most recently until February, saying it’s still necessary.

The administration has argued that after initially federalizing a state’s National Guard, any extension should be allowed, without review.

“That is shocking,” Judge Breyer wrote in his ruling on Wednesday, saying that adopting that interpretation of the law would “permit a president to create a perpetual police force comprised of state troops, so long as they were first federalized lawfully.”

Constitutional law scholars have also expressed concerns in recent months around Trump’s federalization of various state National Guards, saying the president is pushing the limits of executive power and normalizing the idea of troops on streets.

Breyer’s ruling went on to say that the administration’s “argument for a president to hold unchecked power to control state troops would wholly upend the federalism that is at the heart of our system of government.”

In response to NPR’s request for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson asserted that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles was within his “lawful authority.”

“We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue,” Jackson wrote.

The ruling is stayed until Monday to allow for appeal.