Los Angles: A US appeals court on Thursday 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 US Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision does not mean that the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but it does leave the command of the Guard with the president for now.
Earlier on Thursday, San Francisco-based US District Judge Charles Breyer found that Trump’s deployment of the Guard was unlawful.
Breyer’s 36-page ruling had ordered the National Guard to return to the control of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had brought the case.
It was a short-lived victory for Newsom, as Breyer’s order was paused about two and a half hours later. Asked for a comment, Newsom’s press office referred to the governor’s statement after the initial ruling and noted that the appeals court put a temporary pause on the ruling but did not reverse it.
“I’m confident, on the basis of the review of the 36 pages — absolutely it will stand,” Newsom said of the district judge’s order. Trump welcomed the ruling in a social media post on Friday.
The three-judge appeals court panel 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 court’s action called an administrative stay, gives the appeals judges additional time to consider the Trump administration’s request to block Breyer’s order while litigation in the case continues.
Trump summoned the National Guard on Saturday in response to protests that had broken out over immigration raids, then on Monday ordered the US Marines to support the Guard.
A battalion of 700 US Marines is expected to arrive on Friday, marking an extraordinary use of military forces to support civilian police operations within the United States.
The troops have stood guard at a federal detention centre in downtown Los Angeles where many of the protests have taken place 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.
The Guard had also accompanied Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on operations to detain immigrants.
In his ruling, Breyer wrote that the presence of the troops in the city was itself inflaming tensions with protesters — a contention made by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, among others — and depriving the state of the ability to use the Guard for other purposes. –Agencies
