Judge blocks National Guard deployment in Los Angeles
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Smoke rises as members of the California National Guard gather during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles. / Daniel Cole / Reuters
NEW YORK - A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and ordered them returned to the control of the state's governor.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer rejected the Trump administration's claim that recent protests against immigration authorities amounted to a rebellion that legally justified the extraordinary step of taking federal control of state National Guard units and sending them into the streets.
Breyer also rejected the administration's claim that courts have no power to review a president's decision to take control of state National Guard units during an emergency, saying this was an overly expansive view of executive authority.
"The founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one," Breyer said.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul and Chizu Nomiyama // REUTERS)
