Members of the California National Guard stand guard at the loading dock of the Roybal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, on June 12, 2025. A judge has ordered Donald Trump to return control of the California National Guard to the state, saying the president’s decision to deploy them to protest-hit Los Angeles over Governor Gavin Newsom’s objections was “illegal.” Protests against Donald Trump’s harsh immigration policies spread on June 11 across the United States despite a military-backed crackdown in Los Angeles and threats by the hard-right Republican president to use “heavy force.” (AFP)

LOS ANGELES – The Trump administration won a temporary reprieve to retain control of California National Guard troops at least until Tuesday after a day of legal tussling over the president’s decision to send them to quell demonstrations in Los Angeles that erupted over immigration raids.

US District Judge Charles Breyer originally ordered Donald Trump on Thursday to return control of the reserve force to California’s Governor Gavin Newsom on June 17, ruling that the president’s actions were “illegal.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) slammed Breyer’s Thursday order as “an extraordinary intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief” and lodged an immediate appeal.

An appeals court then issued its own ruling within minutes that stayed Breyer’s order until a hearing set for Tuesday so that it had time to consider the DOJ’s appeal.

That means Trump will keep control of the National Guard in California during protests planned for Saturday.

Sporadic though spectacular violence has rocked Los Angeles over days of demonstrations against immigration raids launched by the Trump administration.

But the clashes fell “far short” of the “rebellion” the president described to justify his decision to send in the National Guard, Breyer said in a 36-page opinion released Thursday.

Trump’s actions “were illegal… He must therefore return control” of the guardsmen to Newsom, Breyer said.

Newsom was quick to celebrate Breyer’s order — potentially a much-needed win on just one of several fronts that Democratic California is fighting against the White House.

Trump “is not a monarch, he is not a king, and he should stop acting like one,” the 57-year-old Democrat said.

‘Voice for the people’

Protests over the immigration crackdown first began in Los Angeles a week ago and were largely confined to just a few blocks of the sprawling city.

Damage included vandalism, looting, clashes with law enforcement and several torched driverless taxis.

Trump, who has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of the unrest, deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines to Los Angeles despite the objections of local officials, claiming that they had lost control of the “burning” city.

It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard over the wishes of a state governor.

Critics have accused Trump of a power grab, with protesters in Los Angeles on Thursday angry about his immigration crackdown.

“What brings me out here? The people that were taken, people who don’t have voices. We are the voice for the people,” said Jasmine, who held a placard that said “Abolish ICE,” the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump was unrepentant, declaring again on Friday he “saved LA” and that “if I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now.”

Anger at Trump’s raids and the use of masked, armed immigration agents backed by uniformed soldiers has roused protests in other cities, including San Francisco, Chicago and San Antonio, Texas.

In Georgia, a Mexican citizen died in an ICE facility, Mexico’s foreign ministry said Thursday, adding that it was trying to “clarify the facts, confirm the official cause of death.”

‘Reeks of totalitarianism’

Breyer’s ruling came after California’s stand-off with the administration ratcheted up earlier Thursday, when a sitting US senator was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference about the immigration raids.

Video footage shows California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, being pushed from the room at a federal building in Los Angeles as he tried to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the raids.

“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he said as two men grappled with him in front of journalists, including from AFP.

Footage filmed by Padilla’s staff outside the room shows the senator being pushed to the ground and handcuffed.

The incident “reeks of totalitarianism,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, calling for an investigation.

The White House hit back, claiming without evidence that Padilla “lunged toward Secretary Noem.”

Trump was elected last year after promising to launch historic mass deportations.

But with his mounting crackdown rippling through industries heavily reliant on immigrant labor, Trump said he had heard employers’ complaints and hinted at a forthcoming policy shift.

“We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think,” he said.

The nationwide “No Kings” protests on Saturday will coincide with a highly unusual military parade that Trump is attending in the US capital.

The parade, featuring warplanes and tanks, has been organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army but also happens to be on the day of Trump’s 79th birthday.

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