Donald Trump Commandeers the California National Guard to Suppress Protests Against ICE Deportation Raids

Jun 10, 2025

In response to relatively small protests in Los Angeles over the police state tactics of immigration enforcement, Donald Trump immediately issued an executive order commandeering troops from the California National Guard. California Governor Gavin Newsom argues that this order is illegal.

Time magazine looks at the issue:

To mobilize the National Guard, Trump invoked Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code, which allows for the federalization of the National Guard in cases of an invasion or a rebellion, or if the president is unable to execute the country’s laws with “regular forces.”
Section 12406, however, also states that “Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States.” Newsom confirmed that he did not request the deployment of the National Guard, making it the first time since 1965 that the National Guard has been activated to a state without a governor’s request.
In an open letter to Hegseth, Newsom’s office called the mobilization “a serious breach of state sovereignty” and requested that the Pentagon chief “immediately rescind” the order and “return the National Guard to its rightful control by the State of California, to be deployed as appropriate when necessary.” The Democratic Governors Association backed Newsom in a statement, saying: “It’s important we respect the executive authority of our country’s governors to manage their National Guards.”

The specific legal claims will go to the courts, but Trump’s intent is obvious. He’s taking the first small step toward transforming his immigration police state into nationwide martial law—promising that “we’re going to have troops everywhere.”

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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