A federal judge Tuesday declined California’s request to issue an emergency order to block President Donald Trump’s use of California National Guard troops and Marines within Los Angeles.
Judge Charles Breyer, the brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, instead said he will hold a hearing on California’s request Thursday before making a decision.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) asked Breyer for an emergency order earlier Tuesday.
The request stemmed from the state’s lawsuit against Trump’s move to federalize the state’s National Guard without Newsom’s consent to counter largely peaceful protests in Los Angeles over recent aggressive immigration raids in the city.
In the request, Newsom alleged that the military was preparing to accompany Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on immigration raids throughout the city.
“Defendants intend to use unlawfully federalized National Guard troops and Marines to accompany federal immigration enforcement officers on raids throughout Los Angeles,” the request reads. “They will work in active concert with law enforcement, in support of a law enforcement mission, and will physically interact with or detain civilians.”
The governor’s allegations raise concerns that Trump is using military personnel in civilian law enforcement, which is prohibited by federal law under normal circumstances.
“These unlawful deployments have already proven to be a deeply inflammatory and unnecessary provocation, anathema to our laws limiting the use [of] federal forces for law enforcement, rather than a means of restoring calm,” Newsom’s request reads.
“Federal antagonization, through the presence of soldiers in the streets, has already caused real and irreparable damage to the City of Los Angeles, the people who live there, and the State of California. They must be stopped, immediately.”
The state sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Monday, alleging that the president’s recent order federalizing 4,000 Guard troops violated both the Constitution and federal law. The statute Trump cited in federalizing the troops, 10 U.S. Code 12406, specifies that activation orders “be issued through the governors of the States.”