California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday he’ll make good on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to sue the federal government for deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles during immigration protests.
The news came as President Donald Trump said Monday he’d support the arrest of Newsom for his response to protests in Los Angeles over the weekend. The Democratic governor on Sunday told MSNBC that White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Tom Homan had threatened to arrest him, and responded, “Come and get me, tough guy.”
“I would do it if I were Tom, I think it’s great,” the Republican president told a reporter who asked about Newsom’s remarks. “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”
“This is a day I hoped I would never see in America,” Newsom said in an email to supporters. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
Bonta, also a Democrat, told reporters that he’s “on the verge” of filing a lawsuit to overturn Trump’s order this weekend federalizing California National Guard troops over the objections of Newsom.
“The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” Bonta said in a news release. “Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the president’s authority under the law — and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
As major protests rocked parts of Los Angeles starting Friday, Trump blasted the response of Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, and deployed 300 National Guard troops to assist ICE agents and protect federal buildings. The National Guard is typically controlled by Newsom; Trump’s extraordinary order is a rare instance of a president deploying these troops in a state without the governor’s approval.
Newsom was staunchly opposed to Trump’s takeover of the National Guard and wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth asking for the federal government to reverse course. That request was ignored, Bonta said.
Trump’s actions unsettled Democratic governors throughout the country and local officials in the Bay Area.
Bonta said Trump’s order violates the Tenth Amendment, which reserves certain powers to states such as California.
Trump relied on a federal law that allows the president to federalize National Guard troops under certain circumstances, such as a foreign invasion. Bonta said those conditions weren’t met in California and Trump’s action was “unlawful.”
The lawsuit comes as pro-immigrant groups plan protests in the Bay Area for Monday. In San Jose, about 50 protesters marched on Friday.
Bonta’s office has filed more than 20 lawsuits against the Trump administration challenging a wide range of its actions.
The protest followed an uptick in ICE activity in San Jose over the past week. ICE agents arrested four people Tuesday in South San Jose as they arrived for immigration appointments.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.