California Governor Gavin Newsom has responded after a federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration broke the law by sending National Guard troops to Southern California during immigration enforcement actions and related protests.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco did not order the immediate removal of the troops but said his ruling will 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 stops 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 sending the National Guard to several Democratic-led cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, and New York, citing concerns about violent crime. But crime data show that many Republican-run states and cities have equal or higher rates of crime.
Trump has already sent the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and placed 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 stop Trump and the Department of Defense from expanding the 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.”
Around 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines were sent to Los Angeles in early June to manage protests over immigration enforcement, despite objections from local and state officials.
What is the Posse Comitatus Act?
The Posse Comitatus Act, passed in 1878, limits the use of federal military personnel for law enforcement. Breyer said the Trump administration broke this law by sending 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: “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: “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 set to go into effect Friday, September 12, which could give the Trump administration time to appeal.
