Judge Rules Trump’s Troop Deployment to Los Angeles Broke Federal Law

A federal court in California has ruled that former President Donald Trump’s deployment of U.S. Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this summer violated federal law.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found the administration in breach of the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the use of military forces for domestic law enforcement. In a 52-page ruling, Breyer concluded that the Trump administration used soldiers and military vehicles for crowd control, traffic blockades, and enforcement actions during protests against immigration operations in Los Angeles.

“This was a serious violation of federal law,” Breyer wrote, describing the deployment as part of a “systemic effort” to use troops to enforce drug and immigration laws. He dismissed the administration’s claim that presidential powers override the statute.

The case was brought by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who argued that the federalization of California’s National Guard was unlawful. While the Pentagon withdrew 700 Marines from Los Angeles, about 300 Guard members remain in the city nearly three months later.

Breyer’s ruling also blocks the administration from using National Guard troops for immigration enforcement in California. He warned that expanding such deployments to other cities risked creating “a national police force with the President as its chief.”

The decision comes as Trump has hinted at deploying Guard units to cities including Washington, D.C., Oakland, and San Francisco as part of a broader crackdown on immigration and civil unrest. More than 2,200 Guard members are currently stationed in the nation’s capital.