TRUMP CAN KEEP THE NATIONAL GUARD IN LOS ANGELES – Temporarily pausing a lower court ruling that blocked the mobilisation
A U.S. appeals court on Thursday (June 12) allowed President Donald Trump to maintain his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid protests over stepped-up immigration enforcement, temporarily pausing a lower court ruling that blocked the mobilisation.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision does not mean that the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but it does leave command of the Guard with the president for now.
Protesters were dispersed and detained near a federal detention centre in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12th, during ongoing demonstrations over immigration raids that prompted the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops and Marines.
National Guard troops have stood guard at the federal building in downtown Los Angeles, where many of the protests have taken place in the last days, in a show of solidarity for immigrants detained inside.
The protests so far have been mostly peaceful, punctuated by incidents of violence, and restricted to a few city blocks.
Earlier on Thursday, San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that Trump’s deployment of the Guard was unlawful. Breyer had ordered the National Guard to return to the control of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had brought the case.
It was a brief victory for Newsom, as Breyer’s order was paused a short time later.
The three-judge panel that paused the ruling consisted of two judges appointed by Trump in his first term and one judge who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden. The panel said it would hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider the merits of Breyer’s order.
The appeals court decision stands to leave in place the dynamic of weeklong street demonstrations that have been concentrated in downtown Los Angeles, largely at a federal detention centre where National Guard troops have stood watch.
Trump summoned the National Guard on Saturday, then the U.S. Marines on Monday, to help federal police forces guard federal buildings from protesters and to protect federal immigration agents as they picked up suspected violators.
