President Trump’s decision to federalize and deploy Marines and the National Guard to help arrest illegal immigrants in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee to the court in northern California, also issued a caution to Mr. Trump over his recent rumination about sending troops into other cities such as Baltimore, Chicago and San Francisco, and said it sounded like “a national police force with the president as its chief.”
Judge Breyer, brother of former Justice Stephen Breyer, said the iconic 1878 Posse Comitatus Act limits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement purposes, and the administration strayed far over those boundaries.
He said they assigned the troops to unlawful duties and left them untrained for what they faced.
“Defendants knew that they were ordering troops to execute domestic law beyond their usual authority,” he wrote. “Whether they believed that some constitutional or other exception applied does not matter; ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse.’”
He said the administration doesn’t need to withdraw the 300 remaining troops, but must limit what kinds of duties they perform. The order also applies elsewhere in California, which could hinder Mr. Trump from sending troops to San Francisco or Oakland.
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He stayed his own order for 10 days to give the government a chance to appeal.
Mr. Trump deployed the troops in June after anti-ICE rioters rallied to try to block the immigration agency from carrying out his plans to step up arrests of illegal immigrants.
The president declared the resistance an emergency demanding his intervention. He said the troops were necessary to help federal agents carry out their duties.
Judge Breyer had previously issued a ruling arguing Mr. Trump broke procedural laws in calling up the troops without the consent of Gov. Gavin Newsom. A federal appeals court blocked that ruling, allowing Mr. Trump to keep the troops in place.
Another federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled the massive arrest effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be illegal because officers and agents are sweeping too broadly, targeting people who are speaking Spanish or hanging out at a car wash.
Judge Breyer, in his Tuesday ruling, said the administration deployed the troops without a proper cause required by the Posse Comitatus Act.
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“There were indeed protests in Los Angeles, and some individuals engaged in violence. Yet there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law,” he concluded.
At the peak, Mr. Trump had 700 Marines and 4,000 California National Guard troops in the city. They provided force protection for immigration officers and security for government buildings that had been targeted by anti-ICE mobs
The guard troops were steadily withdrawn and the Marines pulled out in late July, leaving just 300 now.
The Department of Homeland Security last week announced it had made more than 5,000 arrests since the LA operation began in early June.
Judge Breyer held a trial last month to examine the deployment. In his ruling Tuesday, he said troops erected security perimeters and traffic blockades and performed crowd control — all of which were the sort of law enforcement duties that go beyond the Posse Comitatus Act.
He also repeatedly cited Mr. Trump’s public statements about deploying troops to other cities to combat crime, comparing that to “a national police force.”
Judge Breyer’s new order restricts the use of troops anywhere in California.
He said troops can continue to protect federal buildings.
Mr. Newsom, the chief plaintiff in the case, hailed Judge Breyer’s decision.
“Today, the court sided with democracy and the Constitution,” he said. “No president is a king — not even Trump — and no president can trample a state’s power to protect its people.”
He said there “is no rampant lawlessness in California,” and he said crime rates are higher in some GOP-led states than in his own.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the judge’s ruling allows current troops to remain, but they must follow limits on their activities.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.