Overview
- U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted a preliminary injunction, ruling the extended federalization unlawful and criticizing the out-of-state use of California Guardsmen as a “national police force.”
- Breyer rejected the argument that extensions after an initial federalization are beyond judicial review and found no current inability to execute federal law in Los Angeles.
- About 100 Guard members remain near Los Angeles from an original June call-up of roughly 4,000, after the administration extended the mission into February and sought to shift some troops to Portland.
- The Justice Department contends the Guard is needed to protect federal personnel and property, and the White House signaled it will appeal the ruling.
- Parallel lawsuits over deployments to Portland, Chicago and Washington, D.C., have produced mixed appellate results, with an Illinois-related dispute already before the Supreme Court.