By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge said Thursday that he plans to rule quickly on whether President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles against the governor’s wishes.
“This country was founded in response to a monarch, and the Constitution is a document of limitations. I’m trying to figure out where the lines are drawn,” U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said before a packed courtroom.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has characterized the federal military intervention in the nation’s second largest city as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has echoed that, saying the troop deployment was unnecessary and meant to undermine local jurisdictions and intimidate the city’s large immigrant population.
Newsom filed a lawsuit Monday in response to Trump ordering the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. They were originally called in to protect federal buildings, and the president later ordered the deployment of 700 Marines.
On Tuesday, California sought a temporary restraining order immediately blocking the troops from assisting federal agents with immigration enforcement. That came as the military announced some members of the National Guard were now standing in protection around federal agents.
The Trump administration called the lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives” in its official response on Wednesday.
Breyer appeared poised to rule on the broader issue of whether Trump used the proper authority to deploy the Guard in the first place, rather than the narrower question of whether troops could assist with immigration enforcement. He said the use of the Marines was beyond his scope.
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.
The lawsuit argues that Title 10 requires, among other things, that the president go through governors when issuing orders to the National Guard.
Brett Shumate, an attorney for the federal government, said Trump complied with the statute 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.
In a brief filed ahead of the hearing, the Justice Department said Trump’s orders are not subject to judicial review.
“Courts did not interfere when President Eisenhower deployed the military to protect school desegregation. Courts did not interfere when President Nixon deployed the military to deliver the mail in the midst of a postal strike. And courts should not interfere here either,” the department said.
“Our position is this is not subject to judicial review,” Shumate told the judge.
Breyer, who at one point waved a copy of the constitution, said he disagreed.
“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,” he said.
Nicholas Green, an attorney for California, asked for a quick ruling.
“The version of executive power to police civil community that the government is advancing is breathtaking in its scope,” he said.
The protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles intensified after Trump called up the National Guard and have since spread to other cities, including Boston, Chicago and Seattle.
Federal immigration agents have been arresting people at Home Depot parking lots and other businesses, sparking fear in immigrant communities, after the Trump administration said it wanted to dramatically increase arrests under its immigration crackdown.
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth.
The Marines have not yet been spotted in Los Angeles and Guard troops have had limited engagement with protesters.
Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region banded together Wednesday to demand the raids stop and the troops leave.
