Have you ever wondered what constitutes the “greater Los Angeles area?” Would it surprise you that the Trump administration thinks it includes the Coachella Valley, some 130 miles away?
The Trump administration’s bogus interpretation of “greater Los Angeles” has led to California National Guard members, who have been illegally deployed by President Donald Trump, helping the Drug Enforcement Agency conduct drug busts—two hours from Los Angeles.
In a Monday court filing, California attorneys reported National Guard members in the Coachella Valley on June 17, helping with cannabis raids. Rightly so, the attorneys said that this didn’t fall under the Trump administration’s reasons for deploying troops in Los Angeles to quell protests.
The DEA deployed 315 National Guard members to raid cannabis farms “due to the magnitude and topography of this operation.”
Ah, yes. The well-known “magnitude and topography” exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the president from using the military as domestic police forces. Because everybody knows that if you want to raid some big grow operations, it’s totally fine to have active-duty troops along for the ride.
Of course, the DEA is not supposed to be able to “request” that the National Guard help with its drug busts, even if there are “magnitude and topography” challenges. But according to the DEA, since a federal judge signed search warrants for the cannabis farms, National Guard members are allowed to help. A signed warrant isn’t exactly a permission slip to send federal troops on a drug raid, but who’s going to stop this administration?
This was inevitable after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a lower court’s ruling, which held that the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles was illegal, ordering Trump to return control to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In fact, the Trump administration didn’t even wait for the 9th Circuit Court’s actual ruling on June 19. The mere fact that the appellate court had stayed the lower court’s ruling was enough for Trump to decide that he could deploy troops anywhere he wanted—and for whatever reason.
Related | Trump sends 2,000 more troops to terrorize Los Angeles
The 9th Circuit Court’s ruling offers little reassurance. The panel bought the ridiculous argument that the statutory requirement that the National Guard can only be called up “through the governor” doesn’t actually mean that the governor has to consent or even be a part of it. Rather, the court decided, “through the governor” just means that the defense secretary can order the adjutant general of the Nation Guard to “issue all orders in the name of the Governor.”
If that looks a lot like a permission slip for Trump to deploy National Guard troops anywhere, for any reason, without the consent of the state, that’s because it is.
The same day that National Guard troops were helping save the world from the scourge of demon weed instead of doing whatever it is they are supposed to be doing in Los Angeles, Trump called up 2,000 more troops. Meanwhile, as peak wildfire season begins, more than half of the National Guard members who are trained to help fight fires are instead being used in Trump’s illegal deployment.
Trump’s order said the troops were necessary to “temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property.” But it’s clear that the Trump administration reads this as allowing the use of the military in relation to any federal law or property.
Part of the Trump administration’s justification for sending National Guard members to the Coachella Valley seems to be that the drug bust also resulted in the arrest of 70-75 undocumented immigrants. But there was no evidence of protests or unrest. No evidence that the law enforcement agencies lacked the capacity to make the arrests. Nothing.
Now Trump is treating the troops like his own personal domestic police force, with his administration determining that there’s no limit on how long he can deploy them.
This isn’t going to stop with California. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth already told Congress that he can deploy the National Guard anywhere he wants—not just in California. And Trump himself said weeks ago that “we’re gonna have troops everywhere.”
Mobilizing the military on U.S. soil to act as roving law enforcement as the president sees fit is brazenly illegal. And now it’s only going to get worse.
Campaign Action
