Judge questions Trump's use of troops in California

A federal judge seemed skeptical of President Trump’s ability to deploy the National Guard to quell unrest in Los Angeles over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying Thursday he was searching for ways to draw lines.

Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee to the court in San Francisco, cast the case in terms of stopping presidential overreach.

He said the law requires the president to act “through” the governor, but Mr. Trump didn’t even notify Mr. Newsom, much less give him a chance to offer input.

“This country was founded in response to a monarch, and the Constitution is a document of limitations. I’m trying to figure out where the lines are drawn,” the judge said, according to The Associated Press.

The case has quickly become the biggest showdown for presidential powers in the new Trump administration, overshadowing fights over specific deportations and the use of the Alien Enemies Act.

Mr. Newsom says he’s defending the rights of all Americans, saying if Mr. Trump can federalize National Guard troops in California to assist with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts there, it can be deployed for other Trump goals elsewhere.

Mr. Trump deployed the troops beginning on Saturday, a day after ICE officers said they were nearly overrun and a detention facility was breached by a mob angry over the president’s deportation efforts.

ICE said the local police took more than an hour and a half to respond to an emergency call, and the agency’s top commander in Los Angeles said local police aren’t enough.

Mr. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass disagreed, saying they have things under control.

Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested during the protests, which have now stretched for nearly a week.

Mr. Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops he federalized under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which gives the president power but also says the call-up is to be “issued through the governors.”

He also deployed active duty Marines.

The forces are guarding federal buildings and going out into the community to provide force protection to ICE as it looks for its immigration targets.