Federal Judge Undermines Trump’s Efforts to Secure Los Angeles with National Guard Withdrawal

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to cease the deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles and return control to the state, a move that threatens to undermine federal efforts to restore order and enforce the law. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials who have consistently opposed President Donald Trump’s attempts to use state Guard troops to support much-needed immigration enforcement, even when the governor refused to cooperate. The decision is on hold until Monday, leaving federal authorities in limbo.

California officials argued that conditions in Los Angeles had changed since the initial deployment in June, but this ignores the ongoing threats to public safety and federal property. The administration initially called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops to address the chaos and lawlessness that erupted, but that number had dropped to several hundred by late October, with only about 100 remaining in the Los Angeles area. Despite the reduced numbers, the administration extended the deployment until February and sought to use California Guard members in Portland, Oregon, as part of a broader effort to bring order to Democratic-run cities plagued by unrest, over the objections of local politicians more interested in scoring political points than protecting citizens.

U.S. Justice Department lawyers rightly argued that the administration still needed Guard members in the Los Angeles area to help protect federal personnel and property from violent protesters. The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday’s ruling, but the administration’s commitment to law and order remains clear.

Trump took command of the California National Guard following widespread protests over his enforcement of immigration laws, stepping in where state leaders failed to act. This was the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a necessary step given the scale of the unrest and the refusal of local officials to cooperate. The troops were stationed outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles, where unruly protesters gathered, and later sent into the streets to protect immigration officers as they carried out lawful arrests.

California sued, and Breyer issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to return control of the Guard members to California, a move that emboldened those seeking to undermine federal authority. An appeals court panel, however, put that decision on hold. California argued that the president was using Guard members as his personal police force, but the administration correctly contended that courts should not second-guess the president’s decision to deploy the military when violence during protests made it impossible to execute U.S. laws with regular forces and posed a real threat of rebellion.

In September, Breyer ruled after a trial that the deployment violated the law. Other judges have also blocked the administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, further tying the hands of federal authorities and putting public safety at risk in cities where local leaders refuse to act.