


SAN FRANCISCO >> The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday temporarily blocked a federal judge’s order that directed President Donald Trump to return control of National Guard troops to California after he deployed them there following protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids.
The court said it would hold a hearing on the matter Tuesday. The ruling came only hours after a federal judge’s order was to take effect at noon Friday.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment, which defines power between federal and state governments, and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard troops and not Marines also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets yet.
A group of 200 Marines will begin protecting federal property and personnel in downtown Los Angeles at noon Friday, said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed in Los Angeles.
The Marines will join some 2,000 National Guard troops that have been on the streets of the city since last week when immigration raids set off protests.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the earlier ruling.
“Today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test,” Newsom said in a news conference before the appeals court decision.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump thanked the appeals court Friday morning.
“If I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now,” he said.
The White House had called Breyer’s order “unprecedented” and said it “puts our brave federal officials in danger.”
“The district court has no authority to usurp the President’s authority as Commander in Chief,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The President exercised his lawful authority to mobilize the National Guard to protect federal buildings and personnel in Gavin Newsom’s lawless Los Angeles. The Trump Administration will immediately appeal this abuse of power and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”