Court hearing set on Trump’s use of National Guard and Marines to help with immigration raids in LA

California Gov. Newsom challenges Trump's military intervention in Los Angeles, sparking protests and legal battle over immigration raids.

A federal court hearing is scheduled for Thursday (June 12, 2025) on whether the Trump administration can use the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles.

California Gov. Newsom has depicted the federal military intervention in the nation's second-largest city as the onset of a much broader effort by Mr. Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has echoed that, saying the deployment of troops was unnecessary and meant to undermine local jurisdictions and intimidate the city’s large immigrant population.

Mr. Newsom filed an emergency motion requesting the court's intervention after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.

The Trump administration called the lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives” in its official response on Wednesday.

The Democratic governor argued the troops were originally deployed to protect federal buildings and said sending troops to help support immigration raids would only promote civil unrest.

The protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles intensified after Mr. Trump called up the National Guard and have since spread to other cities, including Boston, Chicago and Seattle.

Federal immigration agents have been arresting people at Home Depot parking lots and other businesses, sparking fear in immigrant communities, after the Trump administration said it wanted to dramatically increase arrests under its immigration crackdown.