The use of the National Guard in the American territory in the presidential order has traditionally been an exceptional. Or at least it was … Until Saturday. Hello Donald Trump ordered the mobilization of 2,000 members of the Californian National Guard – For those who are later 2,000 and about 700 Marines connected to alertness – in response to the demonstrations in Los Angeles against their immigration policy.
This military body (composed of reservists who have civil works in their daily) takes to the streets in emergency situations, As natural disasters or fires like those who wiped California last summer. They do it to help the local authorities. And in those cases it is the state leader who asks for the help of extra troops.
The problem is that nothing of it happened in Los Angeles, where local safety forces They have kept protests under controlUsually peacefully, against the raids that are performed in the Californian city, where there is a high percentage of migrant population. These are arrests that are part of the Trump campaign to illegally deport a record number of people in the country.
Troops of the California National Guard and a police officer make guard while people attend a demonstration against federal immigration raids, in the center of Los Angeles, California, US, on 9 June 2025.
Trump justified his decision to use the army in theory to protect buildings and claimed that the territory lived an “invasion and occupation through undocumented and criminal immigrants” and that “Violent and rebellious mobs” They fell the agents of the agents of the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE) To stop deportations. And it is that ICE wants to arrest at least 3,000 immigrants per day.
The governor of the state of California, however Gavin Newsomand the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass(officially) denounced that there had been no “rebellion”And that Trump’s government had actually committed an “illegality” by using the army unilaterally. “It is the disturbed fantasy of a dictatorial president,” he said. But what does the law say?
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, arrives in the White House, in Washington.
An unprecedented order
In theory, the deployment of federal troops requires the permission of the Governor of the State. On Saturday, however, President Donald Trump ordered the shipping from the National Guard to California without The approval of Democrat Gavin Newsom. It is the first time in 60 years that such a measure has been taken against the criteria of a governor. The last time happened in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama. The nuance is that he did it to protect the participants In the peaceful marches For civil rights, the challenging of the then governor George Wallace, a strong defender of racial segregation.
The non -published nature of the order also lies in the fact that 33 years ago a deployment of the National Guard under federal control was not issued from the White House. The last time in 1992, when George HW Bush authorized his speech to control the disruptions after the acquittal of four police officers who had brutally affected the African -American taxi driver Rodney King.
In that case, the president acted At the request of the local authoritieswho requested to call in the Ropics Act, a rule from 1807 that enables the president to use military troops to control civilian disruptions. It is one of the most extreme emergencies, then Trump, at least for the time being, is not activated. And it would be to get into swampy terrain, according to The New York Times.
Instead of the Uprising Act, Trump decided to call up Title 10 of the United States Code, a rule that regulates the role of the armed forces in the country. In particular Section 12406, with which the president allows Place the National Guard under the federal authority If there is “an invasion, rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the US government”, or if regular troops are not sufficient to maintain the laws. Trump covered himself exactly in this last condition.
“Troops without fuel”
In one Presidential memorandum – A happiness of executive order, “argued that” to the extent that protests or acts of violence directly hinder the application of laws, form a form of uprising. “However, this provision does not cancel the Postse Commitatus Law, 1878who prohibits the armed forces – including the National Guard when under federal control – participates directly in tasks applicable for civil law, such as arresting or patrolling by the streets. Police tasks.
What enables the army to protect federal agents that fulfill legal functions and protect property of the federal government. For example, soldiers of the National Guard They can’t stop the protestersBut they can monitor the ice staff while performing arrests.
Governor Newsom has even criticized the Social Network X, that agents do not perform useful action and that they were also used without resources. “ANDYou walked to your troops here Without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. Here they are forced to sleep on the floor, stacked on top of each other. If someone treats our troops disrespectfully, it is you, “he said.
“Instainably”, says Newsom
The truth is that the presence of the army of the National Guard is limited to the supervision of a federal building in which migrants are arrested by the immigration police. The guards are armed with clubs, riotraffle shields and guns with high power. And although there have been no collisions with the demonstrators, they have tense the atmosphere.
That is exactly what the lawsuit incorporated by the state of California, indicating that the use of troops in the state without the permission of the Governor the federal law and The tenth amendment of the Constitutionthat protects the rights of states.
In that sense, the democratic area claims that the deployment does not meet one of the requirements of Title 10 because There has been no “rebellion” or “invasion“Neither any situation that has prevented the application of American laws. Governor Gavin Newsom also indicated that he has not been consulted about sending troops, which, according to the presented requirement, the article is contrary to Trump. And it is that the article determines that” the orders must be published by the governors of the States. “
What is the complaint planning? It requires that Justice withdraws the presidential order and that the 4,000 troops return to their houses, instead of being deployed during the 60 days.
The smoke increases while members of the California National Guard meet during a protest against federal immigration -raids in the center of Los Angeles,
For now it is difficult to anticipate how this confrontation between the federal government and the state of California will be resolved because there are few precedents. In fact, section 1240 was used before: in 1970, when President Richard Nixon started the National Guard to distribute the mail during a postal service, according to the office Reuters.
In this context, five legal experts – both progressive and conservative organizations – expressed the agency Reuters Your doubts about the legality of using Title 10 in this case. They have described the measure as “fire ban and reckless”, because according to their analysis the protests in California They are not “rebellion” Neither prevent the federal government from applying the laws of the country.
