President Trump’s use of National Guard troops against immigration protesters in Los Angeles is illegal, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Trump overstepped his authority when he deployed the troops over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who presides over the Northern District of California.
About 300 National Guard members remain on the streets of Los Angeles, but Breyer did not order their immediate removal. His ruling is not scheduled to go into effect until Sept. 12, allowing the Trump administration time to appeal.
“DONALD TRUMP LOSES AGAIN,” Newsom wrote on social media. “The courts agree — his militarization of our streets and use of the military against US citizens is ILLEGAL.”
In the ruling, Breyer also noted Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard in other cities across the U.S., including New York, Chicago and Baltimore. He said this would also violate the Posse Comitatus Act, the 1870s law that prevents military troops from enforcing the law on U.S. soil.
“President Trump’s recent executive orders and public statements regarding the National Guard raise serious concerns as to whether he intends to order troops to violate the Posse Comitatus Act elsewhere,” Breyer wrote.
The Trump administration will almost surely appeal the ruling. Tuesday’s decision was not even the first time Breyer ruled Trump’s National Guard deployment in Los Angeles to be illegal. Back in June, he ruled Trump violated the Tenth Amendment by calling up the Guard over the governor’s objections, but an appeals court reversed that decision days later.
Trump initially deployed nearly 5,000 troops to Los Angeles in response to protests against his immigration crackdown. Many of those troops have since departed.
With News Wire Services
