A federal judge has declined an emergency motion filed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta to stop what they are calling an “unlawful militarization” of Los Angeles.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer also granted the Trump administration’s request for more time to respond to the governor’s filing. A court hearing regarding the matter is scheduled for Thursday.
The motion accuses President Donald Trump of using federal troops and commandeering state National Guard personnel to carry out immigration enforcement.
The legal filing, part of an ongoing lawsuit against Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the Department of Defense, seeks an immediate court order to halt the expansion of military involvement in Los Angeles. This request comes after federalized National Guard troops and U.S. Marines were deployed there in response to widespread protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
“The federal government is now turning the military against American citizens,” Newsom said in a statement. “Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy. Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a president.”
The protests erupted on June 6 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids in the city and surrounding communities. Demonstrations were largely peaceful, but tensions started to flare over the weekend.
On Friday, Trump issued a memorandum ordering the Department of Defense to federalize 2,000 California National Guard troops for 60 days and deploy U.S. Marines to the region.