California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an emergency motion to stop what they are calling an “unlawful militarization” of Los Angeles, accusing President Donald Trump of using federal troops and commandeering state National Guard personnel to carry out immigration enforcement.
The legal filing, part of an ongoing lawsuit against Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Department of Defense, asks the court to immediately halt the expansion of military involvement in Los Angeles, where federalized National Guard troops and U.S. Marines have been deployed in response to widespread protests in response to the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
“The federal government is now turning the military against American citizens,” Newsom said in a statement. “Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy. Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a president.”
Bonta echoed the governor’s concerns, calling the move “illegal and dangerous.”
The protests erupted on June 6 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids in the city and surrounding communities. Demonstrations were largely peaceful, but tensions started to flare over the weekend.
On Friday, Trump issued a memorandum ordering the Department of Defense to federalize 2,000 California National Guard troops for 60 days and deploy U.S. Marines to the region.
Newsom’s legal team argues that Trump’s actions violate both the U.S. Constitution and Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which require gubernatorial consent before the federal government can take command of a state’s National Guard — consent Newsom says was never requested or granted.
The complaint also accuses federal officials of overstepping legal boundaries by ordering the National Guard to participate in civilian law enforcement, including immigrant detentions, in violation of constitutional protections.
Officials say local and state law enforcement, without any communication or request from federal agencies, have managed the demonstrations effectively, even increasing personnel by more than 800 officers to maintain public safety. Meanwhile, federal troops have remained stationed outside federal buildings.
“The president’s actions have not only caused widespread panic and chaos,” the governor’s office said in a statement, “but have unnecessarily diverted resources as the state works to calm a community terrorized by reckless federal intervention.”
Currently, an estimated 1,600 federalized troops remain stationed in area armories awaiting further orders, according to Newsom’s office.
The court has not yet scheduled a hearing on the emergency request.
