California Argues in Court Against Trump's National Guard Deployment

California's challenge of the Trump administration's military deployment on the streets of Los Angeles returned to a federal courtroom in San Francisco on Friday after an appeals court handed President Donald Trump a key procedural win in the case.
The hearing comes a day after the 9th Circuit appellate panel allowed the president to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed in response to protests over immigration raids. The appellate decision halted a temporary restraining order from US District Judge Charles Breyer, who found Trump acted illegally when he activated the soldiers over opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Despite the appellate setback, California's attorneys are expected to ask Breyer on Friday for a preliminary injunction returning control of the troops in Los Angeles, where protests have calmed down in recent days, to Newsom. Trump, a Republican, argued that the troops have been necessary to restore order. Newsom, a Democrat, said their presence on the streets of a US city inflamed tensions, usurped local authority, and wasted resources.
The demonstrations have appeared to be winding down, although dozens of protesters showed up Thursday at Dodger Stadium where a group of federal agents in SUVs and cargo vans had gathered, with their faces covered, in a parking lot. The Los Angeles Dodgers organization asked them to leave, and they did. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew in downtown Los Angeles that was first imposed in response to vandalism and clashes with police after crowds gathered in opposition to agents taking migrants into detention.
Breyer found that Trump had overstepped his legal authority, which he said allows presidents to control state National Guard troops only during times of rebellion or danger of a rebellion. 'The protests in Los Angeles fall far short of rebellion,' wrote Breyer, a Watergate prosecutor who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, and is brother to retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
The Trump administration argued that courts can't second-guess the president's decisions. The appellate panel ruled otherwise, saying presidents don't have unfettered power to seize control of a state's guard, but said that by citing violent acts by protesters in this case, the Trump administration had presented enough evidence to show it had a defensible rationale for federalizing the troops.
For now, the California National Guard will stay in federal hands as the lawsuit proceeds. It's the first deployment by a president of a state National Guard without the governor's permission since troops were sent to protect Civil Rights Movement marchers in 1965.
Trump celebrated the appellate ruling in a social media post, calling it a 'BIG WIN' and hinting at more potential deployments. 'All over the United States, if our Cities and our people need protection, we are the ones to give it to them, should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done,' Trump wrote.
Newsom, for his part, has also warned that California won't be the last state to see troops in the streets if Trump gets his way. 'The President is not a king and is not above the law. We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump's authoritarian use of US military soldiers against citizens,' Newsom said.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance was traveling to Los Angeles on Friday to meet with US Marines who also have been deployed to protect federal buildings, his office announced.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Arab News

23 minutes ago

• Arab News

Trump says his intel chief was ‘wrong' to believe Iran was not building a nuclear weapon

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Friday that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was 'wrong' when she previously said that the US believed Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon, and he suggested that it would be 'very hard to stop' Israel's strikes on Iran in order to negotiate a possible ceasefire. Trump has recently taken a more aggressive public stance toward Tehran as he's sought more time to weigh whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility. Buried under a mountain, the facility is believed to be out of the reach of all but America's 'bunker-buster' bombs. After landing in New Jersey for an evening fundraiser for his super political action committee, Trump was asked about Gabbard's comments to Congress in March that US spy agencies believed that Iran wasn't working on nuclear warheads. The president responded, 'Well then, my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?' Informed that it had been Gabbard, Trump said, 'She's wrong.' In a subsequent post on X, Gabbard said her testimony was taken out of context 'as a way to manufacture division.' 'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly,' she wrote. 'President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree.' Still, disavowing Gabbard's previous assessment came a day after the White House said Trump would decide within two weeks whether the US military would get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran. It said seeking additional time was 'based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' But on Friday, Trump himself seemed to cast doubts on the possibility of talks leading to a pause in fighting between Israel and Iran. He said that, while he might support a ceasefire, Israel's strikes on Iran could be 'very hard to stop.' Asked about Iran suggesting that, if the US was serious about furthering negotiations, it could call on Israel to stop its strikes, Trump responded, 'I think it's very hard to make that request right now.' 'If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing,' Trump said. 'But we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens.' The president later added, 'It's very hard to stop when you look at it.' 'Israel's doing well in terms of war. And, I think, you would say that Iran is doing less well. It's a little bit hard to get somebody to stop,' Trump said. Trump campaigned on decrying 'endless wars' and has vowed to be an international peacemaker. That's led some, even among conservatives, to point to Trump's past criticism of the US invasion of Iraq beginning in 2003 as being at odds with his more aggressive stance toward Iran now. Trump suggested the two situations were very different, though. 'There were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. And that was somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was, it was a nuclear age, but nothing like it is today,' Trump said of his past criticism of the administration of President George W. Bush. He added of Iran's current nuclear program, 'It looked like I'm right about the material that they've gathered already. It's a tremendous amount of material.' Trump also cast doubts on Iran's developing nuclear capabilities for civilian pursuits, like power generation. 'You're sitting on one of the largest oil piles anywhere in the world,' he said. 'It's a little bit hard to see why you'd need that.'

Arab News

2 hours ago

• Arab News

Hundreds of US citizens left Iran in last week, State Dept cable says

WASHINGTON: Hundreds of American citizens have departed Iran using land routes over the past week since an aerial war between the Islamic Republic and Israel broke out, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters on Friday. While many left without problem, 'numerous' citizens had faced 'delays and harassment' while trying to exit, the cable said. It said, without giving further details, that one unidentified family had reported that two US citizens attempting to leave Iran had been detained. The internal cable dated June 20 underscores the challenge Washington is facing in trying to protect and assist its citizens in a country with which it has no diplomatic relations and in a war in which the United States may soon get involved. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The cable was first reported by The Washington Post. • US advises land exits via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkey • Some US citizens departing Iran faced problems, cable says • Over 6,400 US citizens filled possible evacuation form in Israel President Donald Trump and the White House said on Thursday he will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. Trump has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting Washington might join the fighting on Israel's side. The air war began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran and has alarmed a region that has been on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. Israel is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons, and said it struck Iran to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with its own strikes on Israel. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. POTENTIAL EVACUATION The US State Department in a travel alert earlier on Friday urged its citizens wishing to depart Iran to use land routes via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkiye. Iranian airspace is closed. The US Embassy in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat has requested entry for over 100 American citizens, but the Turkmenistan government has yet to give its approval, the cable said. The Islamic Republic treats Iranian-US dual citizens solely as nationals of Iran, the State Department emphasized. 'US nationals are at significant risk of questioning, arrest and detention in Iran,' the alert said. Washington is looking at ways to potentially evacuate its citizens from Israel, but it has almost no way of assisting Americans inside Iran. The two countries have had no diplomatic ties since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Thursday said the administration was looking at different ways to get US citizens out. 'We're working to get military, commercial, charter flights and cruise ships for evac,' he said in an X post, urging US citizens and green card holders to complete an online form. As of Friday, more than 6,400 US citizens filled out that form for Israel, a separate internal department email seen by Reuters said. The form allows the agency to predict an approximate figure for potential evacuations. 'Approximately 300-500 US citizens per day would potentially require departure assistance,' said the internal email, also dated June 20 and marked 'sensitive.' The State Department does not have official figures but thousands of US citizens are thought to be residing in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Israel. Israel's strikes over the last week have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Israel says Iranian attacks have killed 24 civilians in Israel. 'The US Department of State received no reports of US citizen casualties in Israel or Iran,' the second email said.

Al Arabiya

3 hours ago

• Al Arabiya

San Diego Clergy Visit Federal Immigration Court to Bear Witness During Crackdown on Migrants

About a dozen religious leaders from the San Diego area visited federal immigration court Friday to serve as witnesses to what goes down as some cases arising from the Trump administration's migration crackdown are heard, an organizer said. Some migrants have been arrested at the court by federal immigration officers. The Rev. Scott Santarosa, a Jesuit priest who was lead organizer of the group, said the purpose of the visitation 'is more than anything just to provide some sense of presence.' 'People are longing for people of faith to walk with vulnerable migrants,' added Santarosa, the pastor of San Diego's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. 'Our goal is not trying to prevent arrests – but we can witness it.' The visit was preceded by a Mass at San Diego's Catholic Cathedral with bishops and other clergy – including Bishop Michael Pham, the top-ranking official in the group and one of the first bishops to be appointed by Pope Leo XIV after his election as pontiff – offering prayers for refugees and migrants on World Refugee Day. Pham himself is a refugee; he came to the US unaccompanied as a boy from Vietnam. The idea for the court visit started during a diocese-wide call to plan events for World Refugee Day, in addition to each church holding a Mass to pray for migrants and refugees, Santarosa said. The priest said he hopes that visiting the court helps migrant communities – both more recent arrivals and those without legal status to be in the country who have lived in the San Diego area for decades. 'They're feeling like people just want them to disappear,' Santarosa said, adding that a woman told him in Spanish: 'Father, we feel as if we were hunted, as if we were animals.'