President Donald Trump’s administration violated federal law in the use of National Guard troops during Southern California immigration enforcement operations and accompanying protests, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco did not require the remaining troops to be withdrawn, however. He set his order to go into effect on Friday.
The decision was handed down after a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, where attorneys delivered arguments over whether the Trump administration violated federal law when it activated thousands of National Guard members and U.S. Marines in response to immigration enforcement operation protests.
The protests, some of which turned violent, erupted in Los Angeles and nearby communities after federal agents conducted raids in early June. The White House, over objections from Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state and local leaders, activated the first wave of National Guard troops, who were assigned to protect federal personnel and property in Los Angeles.
In the days that followed, local police, sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol members responded to violence that broke out during some of the protests. National Guard troops and Marines primarily remained positioned outside federal buildings, including the downtown Los Angeles federal detention center and the Federal Building in Westwood.
At the troop presence height, there were about 4,000 federalized National Guard members and 700 Marines in the Los Angeles area.
Most of the federal troops have been relieved from duty in Los Angeles, but California asked U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer to order the Trump administration to return control of troops that remain in Southern California to the state. California also asked the judge to block the federal government from using military troops in California “to execute or assist in the execution of federal law or any civilian law enforcement functions by any federal agent or officer.”
Historically, the National Guard is activated by the governor at the request of local officials.
The bench trial got underway as President Trump announced plans to activate National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., where the relationship between the federal government and its power are different than rules applying to its relationship with state. Actions in the nation’s capital are not subject to the judge’s decision in the California case.
Gov. Newsom wanted the judge to order the administration to permanently stop what the state claimed were illegal troop deployments to Los Angeles. Administration attorneys argued the deployments were legally justified to assist immigration law enforcement and protect federal buildings.
The trial in San Francisco federal court stems from a June lawsuit filed by California against Trump after the president federalized the California National Guard. Breyer, who oversaw hearings in June, initially sided with California, ordering Trump to return the National Guard to the governor’s control.
Breyer, the younger brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, determined the National Guard deployment was illegal and violated the Tenth Amendment, which defines power between federal and state governments, and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority.
However, a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found that Trump acted within the law when calling up troops to protect federal buildings and federal employees.
In granting Trump’s emergency motion for a stay pending appeal of Breyer’s ruling — which called the federalization unconstitutional — the appellate court concluded that it is likely Trump lawfully exercised his authority to federalize the National Guard when the president “is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
Essentially, the panel found in favor of Trump’s argument that the civil unrest in downtown Los Angeles rose to such a level that local law enforcement was unable to protect federal immigration officers while they were carrying out government-ordered arrests and raids, making the military deployment necessary.
The recent immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California are part of President Trump’s campaign promise to carry out a mass deportation plan. The administration has highlighted arrests involving undocumented individuals with violent crime convictions. Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court.
Through August, nearly 61,000 migrants had been taken into ICE detention since the start of President Trump’s second term, according NBC News, which used ICE data both public and internal as well as data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. About 30% of those in detention had criminal convictions; 25% had pending criminal charges; 45% were listed as “other immigration violator;” and 11.6% were fast-tracked for deportation.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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