Judge rules Trump’s use of National Guard in LA illegal

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles, amid immigration enforcement and protests against the raids, was illegal.

Judge Charles Breyer of the US District Court in San Francisco issued the ruling, finding that the deployment was in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act,  which bars most uses of US. troops on US soil.

It is unlawful for U.S. military troops to enforce domestic laws. The Trump administration has argued that the troops were there to protect federal officers and property and they were not performing local policing duties.

An appeal is expected from the Trump administration.

The ruling, which followed a lawsuit by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a three-day trial, goes into effect on Sept. 12.
Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in June.

FILE – President Donald Trump, right, speaks during a cabinet meeting, Aug. 26, 2025, at the White House in Washington and California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seen at a press conference in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The injunction applies only to the military in California, not nationally. Trump, who recently deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., said he may send troops to Chicago.

The president said last month that he can “do anything I want to do … if I think our country is in danger.”

According to the ruling, the Trump administration is “enjoined from deploying, ordering, instructing, training, or using the National Guard currently deployed in California, and any military troops heretofore deployed in California, to execute the laws, including but not limited to engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants, unless and until defendants satisfy the requirements of a valid constitutional or statutory exception, as defined herein, to the Posse Comitatus Act.”

Newsom applauded the decision, saying that Trump’s use of the military is illegal and must be stopped.

“Today, the court sided with democracy and the Constitution,” according to a statement from Newsom. “No president is a king — not even Trump — and no president can trample a state’s power to protect its people. As the court today ruled, Trump is breaking the law by `creating a national police force with the President as its chief.’

“That’s exactly what we’ve been warning about for months. There is no rampant lawlessness in California, and in fact, crime rates are higher in Republican-led states. Trump’s attempt to use federal troops as his personal police force is illegal, authoritarian, and must be stopped in every courtroom across this country.”

Trump has said the troops were needed in Los Angeles to protect federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement, after large-scale immigration raids triggered protests. About 300 National Guard troops remain deployed to Los Angeles, and the Trump administration has said they would stay in the area at least until November.

In a post on X, Mayor Karen Bass also praised Breyer’s ruling.

“I applaud the court for today’s important ruling,” she said. “The White House tried to invade the second largest city in the country. That’s illegal. Los Angeles will not buckle and we will not break. We will not be divided and we will not be defeated.”
The Justice Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (CNS)

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