SAN FRANCISCO — A federal court hearing is scheduled for Thursday on whether the Trump administration can use the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles.
California Gov. Newsom has depicted the federal military intervention in the nation’s second largest city as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has echoed that, saying the deployment of troops was unnecessary and meant to undermine local jurisdictions and intimidate the city’s large immigrant population.
Newsom filed an emergency motion requesting the court’s intervention after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.
The Trump administration called the lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives” in its official response on Wednesday.
The Democratic governor argued the troops were originally deployed to protect federal buildings and said sending troops to help support immigration raids would only promote civil unrest.
The protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles intensified after Trump called up the National Guard and have since spread to other cities, including Boston, Chicago and Seattle.
Federal immigration agents have been arresting people at Home Depot parking lots and other businesses, sparking fear in immigrant communities, after the Trump administration said it wanted to dramatically increase arrests under its immigration crackdown.
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth.
Most demonstrations have been peaceful but this weekend some turned raucous with protesters setting cars on fire in downtown Los Angeles. The city has imposed a nightly curfew covering a 1-square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) section where protests have occurred in the sprawling metropolis of 4 million people.
The Marines have not yet been spotted in Los Angeles and Guard troops have had limited engagement with protesters.
Newsom filed the motion Tuesday, the same day the military announced some members of the National Guard were now standing in protection around federal agents. The change moves troops closer to engaging in law enforcement actions like deportations as Trump has promised as part of his administration’s immigration crackdown. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers but any arrests ultimately would be made by law enforcement.
Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer chose not to rule immediately but set the hearing for Thursday in federal court in San Francisco.
Dozens of mayors from across the Los Angeles region banded together Wednesday to demand the raids stop and the troops leave.