Federal court weighs legality of Trump's Marines and National Guard deployment to Los Angeles
Ernesto Santacruz Jr., field office director for the Department of Homeland Security in Los Angeles, testified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers faced daily threats before military personnel arrived.
'We still had officer assault situations,' Santacruz said. 'But they did reduce drastically' after the deployment.
The Trump administration has maintained that the forces were sent to protect federal property and personnel amid heightened protests against immigration raids.
Following June 7 protests sparked by ICE arrests at multiple locations, the Department of Defense deployed roughly 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles. The move came despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and city officials.
While most troops have since left, 250 National Guard members remain under federal control, according to the Pentagon.
The state of California has asked US District Judge Charles Breyer to return control of the remaining Guard members and bar the federal government from using military forces to assist in law enforcement activities.
Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman testified that troops were authorised to take certain law enforcement actions, including setting up security perimeters around federal facilities and detaining civilians for police arrest.
Trump federalized the California National Guard under a statute allowing presidential action in cases of invasion, rebellion, or when the president cannot otherwise execute federal law.
Judge Breyer questioned whether the Los Angeles protests met that threshold, noting they 'fall far short of 'rebellion.''
Breyer had already ruled earlier in the case that the Trump administration violated the Constitution's 10th Amendment and exceeded its authority—though an appeals court granted a temporary stay, allowing federal control to continue during litigation.
During the deployment, National Guard members joined ICE agents on raids in Los Angeles. Marines largely guarded a downtown federal building that includes a detention center at the center of demonstrations.
Since June, federal agents have detained undocumented immigrants at Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms. State attorneys noted that some U.S. citizens were also detained during these operations.
The outcome of this trial could shape how far a president can go in deploying federalized National Guard units in states without their consent—particularly in politically charged situations.
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