President Donald Trump took an extraordinary measure on Saturday by calling two thousand National Guard soldiers to contain protests against California anti-immigration policy, using rare federal power and bypassing the authority of state governor Gavin News.
It is the first time since 1965 that a president activates the National Guard of a state without the request of the local governor, according to Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice National Freedom and Security Program – an independent organization of law and public policies. The last time was when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights protesters in 1965, she said.
Newsom, a Democrat, immediately repudiated the president’s action. “This measure is deliberately provocative and will only increase tensions,” said Newsom, adding that “this is a mistaken mission and will undermine public trust.”
Normally, governors have control over the sending of the National Guard to their states. However, Trump’s signed directive quotes “10 USC 12406”, a specific US Code Title 10 clause on the Armed Forces. This clause allows the federal use of the National Guard if there is “rebellion or risk of rebellion against the authority of the United States government.”
The text also states that the president can summon “members and units of the National Guard of any state, in the number they consider necessary, to repel invasions, suppress rebellions or enforce the laws.” Trump’s directive stated: “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the United States government.”
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said in a statement on Saturday night that Trump was sending the National Guard in response to “violent crowds” who, she said, attacked federal and immigration agents. The two thousand soldiers would “deal with the illegality that was allowed to flourish,” he said.
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Although some demonstrations were turbulent, local authorities in Los Angeles County did not indicate during the day they needed federal assistance. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, said in a publication on social network X on Saturday night that the Pentagon was “immediately mobilizing the National Guard.” However, he did not say when or where the troops would gather, nor did they identify their units.
The Trump Directive authorized the Secretary of Defense to “employ any other members of the regular armed forces as needed to complement and support the protection of federal functions and properties in the number it considers appropriate, at its discretion.” In Hegseth in X’s publication, he stated that active Marines were “maximum alert” at Camp Pendleton base, about 160 kilometers south of Los Angeles, and could also be mobilized.
Protests took place on Friday and Saturday in California as opposed to federal immigration beats in workplaces. The most recent happened in a home depot unit in Paramount, California, about 32 kilometers south of downtown Los Angeles.
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For months, California Democrats were preparing for Trump to try to send US troops on American soil, especially in democratic controlled jurisdictions. Internally, they recognized that such a movement, without the consent of the state, would have deep implications.
Trump had already suggested using military forces similarly during his first term to contain violence in national protests after George Floyd’s murder by a police officer in Minneapolis. At the time, he retreated, but repeatedly raised the idea of using troops in border states. In 2020, on the final days of his first term, military helicopters were used to disperse peaceful protesters against police violence near the White House.
– The federal government takes control of the California National Guard, without the governor’s request, to repress protests, is truly scary – analyzes Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California Law School in Berkeley. – It is the use of military power, internally, to silence dissent.
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The last time the National Guard was federalized was in 1992, according to Goitein, when President George HW Bush sent troops to Los Angeles to control protests caused by police acquittal for Rodney King aggression. In that case, the shipping was requested by the then governor of California, Pete Wilson.
Trump and his advisers often regret that the governor of Minnesota did not do enough to contain the protests that followed Floyd’s death in 2020. During a campaign rally in 2023, Trump made it clear that he would not contain himself in a second term.
“‘You shouldn’t get involved in this, you have to be invited by the governor or the mayor to intervene’ … Next time, I won’t wait,” Trump said.
