California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to block the Trump administration from deploying the military in Los Angeles.
The order asked a district court to block Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from mobilizing Marines and National Guard members in response to ongoing protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Southern California.
“Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens. The courts must immediately block these illegal actions,” Newsom said in a post to X.
Newsom filed the temporary restraining order on Monday, arguing that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marine Corps without the state’s consent is “unlawful” and “unprecedented.” The lawsuit argues that, unchallenged, these actions could set a precedent for the rest of the country with “devastating consequences.”
"Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy. Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a President,” Newsom said in a press release.
While Trump and his Cabinet members have painted the protests as an "insurrection," the lawsuit begs to differ.
"There is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together," the suit states.
If granted, the order would bar deployed troops from taking part in law enforcement activities. The Justice Department argued that Newsom's request is "legally meritless" and called the potential restraining order "extraordinary, unprecedented, and dangerous" in a filing to the court.
