A federal appellate court has ruled that the Trump administration must remove California National Guard troops from Los Angeles by Monday, upholding a lower court decision that halted the prolonged deployment. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that the federal government had illegally extended the military presence in the city months after protests over immigration enforcement had subsided.
The three-judge panel blocked the continued use of roughly 100 remaining National Guard troops under federal orders, although it temporarily stayed a part of the district court’s ruling that would have returned full control of the troops to Governor Gavin Newsom. California officials hailed the decision as a partial victory. Attorney General Rob Bonta emphasized that, for the first time in six months, no National Guard troops would be deployed on the streets of Los Angeles and criticized the administration’s use of the military as unnecessary.
At the peak of the deployment in June, approximately 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines were federalized and sent to Los Angeles, drawing strong objections from state and local officials who argued that local law enforcement was capable of handling demonstrations. Governor Newsom had sued over the initial deployment, but the Trump administration defended it as necessary to protect federal property and personnel during immigration enforcement operations.
The number of federally controlled troops began declining in July, and by last month, about 300 remained under federal orders. Judge Charles R. Breyer previously ruled that any emergency cited to justify the deployment had ended and ordered the troops to be returned to state command. The Trump administration had contended that the president could extend federal control once troops were mobilized and argued that federal personnel still needed protection amid ongoing immigration enforcement operations.