A U.S. District Judge has ruled the Trump Administration broke the law by deploying National Guard troops.
California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has responded after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration broke the law by deploying National Guard troops to Southern California during immigration enforcement operations and related protests.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco stopped short of ordering the troops' immediate removal but said his ruling would take effect Friday, September 12. Breyer is the younger brother of Stephen Breyer, who served as a Supreme Court justice from 1994 to 2022.
The ruling blocks the Trump administration 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."
Newsom said in a statement, "Today, the court sided with democracy and the Constitution. 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."
Why It Matters
The ruling comes as Trump has discussed deploying the National Guard to various Democratic-led cities, including Chicago, Baltimore and New York, citing concerns about violent crime in the cities. However, crime statistics show that many Republican-run states and cities have equal, or higher, rates of crime.
Trump has already deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., in addition to placing the city's police department under federal control.
"President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have stated their intention to call National Guard troops into federal service in other cities across the country—including Oakland and San Francisco, here in the Northern District of California—thus creating a national police force with the President as its chief," Breyer wrote in his ruling.
What To Know
In June, Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an emergency request asking the court to block Trump and the Department of Defense from expanding the current mission of federalized Cal Guard personnel and Marines.
The governor's office said the soldiers were ordered to "engage in unlawful civilian law enforcement activities in communities across the region."
Roughly 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines were deployed to Los Angeles in early June to deal with protests over immigration enforcement, despite objections from local and state officials.
What is the Posse Comitatus Act?
The Posse Comitatus Act is a law passed in 1878 that limits the use of federal military personnel. Breyer said the Trump administration violated the law in its deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles.
"Because Defendants' alleged violations of the Posse Comitatus Act include allegations that Task Force 51 troops have engaged in law enforcement—a domain traditionally within the state's control—California has suffered an injury that gives it standing to challenge those violations," Breyer wrote.
What People Are Saying
California Governor Gavin Newsom, in a statement: "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."
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, in a ruling: "Los Angeles was the first U.S. city where President Trump and Secretary Hegseth deployed troops, but not the last."
What Happens Next
Breyer's ruling is scheduled to go into effect on Friday, September 12, which could give the Trump administration time to appeal the ruling.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Update 09/02/25 1:31 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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