President Donald Trump broke the law when he deployed thousands of U.S. Marines and National Guard troops to Southern California, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, Sept. 2. The decision comes as the Trump administration aims to expand the military’s presence to fight crime in cities around the United States.
The ruling was a victory for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who filed a lawsuit June 9 that accused Trump and the Department of Defense of violating the Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878 to block the use of the military for law enforcement on domestic soil.
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“Nearly 140 years later, Defendants— President Trump, Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth, and the Department of Defense— deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, ostensibly to quell a rebellion and ensure that federal immigration law was enforced,” Judge Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco wrote. “There were indeed protests in Los Angeles, and some individuals engaged in violence. Yet there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law.”
The Department of Justice is expected to appeal Breyer’s ruling to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump violates federal law
Trump nationalized the California National Guard after protests broke out in Los Angeles in early June over mass arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Even though local law enforcement said the protests were under control, Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines as “Task Force 51.”
“Task Force 51 troops accompanied ICE officers on approximately 75% of their enforcement and removal operations in and around Los Angeles through mid-July,” Breyer wrote in a 52-page order on Tuesday.
Breyer said the move was illegal.
“Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles,” Breyer wrote. “In short, Defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act.”
In SoCal, troops remain
Troops still linger in the Los Angeles area, “creating a national police force with the President as its chief,” Breyer wrote.
Breyer said these troops need to be released or to be assigned only to duties such as guarding federal buildings.
The order comes amid the president’s threat to send troops to more cities. Trump sent 2,000 troops to Washington, D.C., in August to quell crime, even though the crime rate there was falling and local officials said the move was unnecessary.
Fox News reported in August that the administration may send troops to 19 states for law enforcement and immigration enforcement, and Trump has repeatedly suggested he will soon mobilize troops in Chicago.
