Trial to start on whether deployment of National Guard to Los Angeles
violated federal law
[August 11, 2025]
By JANIE HAR and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco will consider
evidence and hear arguments on whether the Trump administration violated
federal law when it deployed National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines to
Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids this summer.
The Trump administration federalized California National Guard members
and sent them to the second largest U.S. city over the objections of
Gov. Gavin Newsom and city leaders, after protests erupted June 7 when
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested people at multiple
locations.
California is asking Judge Charles Breyer to order the Trump
administration to return control of the remaining troops to the state
and to stop 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.”
The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act prevents the president from using the
military as a domestic police force. The case could set precedent for
how Trump can deploy the guard in the future in California or other
states.
The Department of Defense ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000
California National Guard troops and 700 Marines. Most of the troops
have since left but 250 National Guard members remain, according to the
latest figures provided by the Pentagon. The remaining troops are at the
Joint Forces Training Base, in Los Alamitos, according to Newsom
Newsom won an early victory from Breyer, who found the Trump
administration had violated the Tenth Amendment, which defines power
between federal and state governments, and exceeded its authority.
The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal arguing that courts
can’t second guess the president’s decisions and secured a temporary
halt from the appeals court, allowing control of the California National
Guard to stay in federal hands as the lawsuit continues to unfold.
After their deployment, the soldiers accompanied federal immigration
officers on immigration raids in Los Angeles and at two marijuana farm
sites in Ventura County while Marines mostly stood guard around a
federal building in downtown Los Angeles that includes a detention
center at the core of protests.
The Trump administration argued the troops were needed to protect
federal buildings and personnel in Los Angeles, which has been a
battleground in the federal government’s aggressive immigration
strategy. Since June, federal agents have rounded up immigrants without
legal status to be in the U.S. from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops,
and farms. Some U.S. citizens have also been detained.
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California National Guard members are positioned at the Federal
Building in downtown Los Angeles, on June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric
Thayer, File)
Ernesto Santacruz Jr., the field office director for the Department
of Homeland Security in Los Angeles, said in court documents that
the troops were needed because local law enforcement had been slow
to respond when a crowd gathered outside the federal building to
protest the June 7 immigration arrests.
“The presence of the National Guard and Marines has played an
essential role in protecting federal property and personnel from the
violent mobs,” Santacruz said.
After opposition from the Trump administration, Breyer issued an
order allowing California’s attorneys to take Santacruz’s
deposition. They also took a declaration from a military official on
the National Guard and Marines role in Los Angeles.
The Trump administration's attorneys argued in court filings last
week the case should be canceled because the claims under the Posse
Comitatus Act “fail as a matter of law.” They argued that there is a
law that gives the president the authority to call on the National
Guard to enforce U.S. laws when federal law enforcement isn’t
enough.
Trump federalized members of the California National Guard under
Section 12406 of Title 10, which allows the president to call the
National Guard into federal service when the country “is invaded,”
when “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the
authority of the Government,” or when the president is otherwise
unable “to execute the laws of the United States.”
Breyer found the protests in Los Angeles “fall far short of
‘rebellion.’”
“Next week’s trial is not cancelled,” he said in a ruling ordering
the three-day bench trial.
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