President Donald Trump is within his rights to deploy the California National Guard amid protests against federal law enforcement over immigration raids, an appeals court ruled Thursday night.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government made a required “strong showing” in arguing it would prevail against California’s challenge to the legality of the deployment of troops usually under the governor’s control.
“Under longstanding precedent … our review of that decision must be highly deferential” to the president, the panel wrote in its ruling. “Affording the President that deference, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority.”
The recent activation of the National Guard troops to Los Angeles was the first by a president without the governor’s permission since 1965.
Trump and members of his administration argued that protesters angry over immigration raids in Los Angeles, many of whom gathered outside federal buildings in the region, were not under the control of local police.
Additionally, the panel said, even if the governor didn’t agree with the deployment this month, using the defense secretary to order the troops into action was a legal avenue that “likely satisfied the statute’s procedural requirement that federalization orders be issued ‘through’ the Governor,” it said.
Thursday night’s ruling overturned a temporary restraining order that had been paused during appeals.
The panel said, “Our conclusion that it is likely that the President’s order federalizing members of the California National Guard was authorized.”
It also argues that the temporary restraining order could have done harm to “the public interest” at a time of mass protest.
The court granted a motion to stay the lower court’s order during further appeals, which gives control of the troops to Trump.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has not yet responded to the ruling on social media or in a statement, but shortly before the appeals court’s decision was made public, he addressed the matter on X.
“California will continue to assert ourselves,” the office said in a statement on X. “We will not stand for this kind of unlawful militarization of an American city. Trump, it’s long past time to rescind your unlawful order federalizing national guardsmen.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the federal lawsuit against the Trump administration on June 9, arguing that Trump’s federalization of the troops was “unlawful” and “infringes on Governor Newsom’s role as Commander-in-Chief of the California National Guard.”
