A landmark trial kicks off on Aug. 11 over the Trump administration's use of National Guard troops to support its deportation efforts and quell protests in Los Angeles, in a legal challenge highlighting the president's break from long-standing norms against deploying soldiers on American streets.
The three-day non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco will determine if the government violated a 19th-century law that bars the military from civil law enforcement when it deployed troops to Los Angeles in June.
Los Angeles suffered days of unrest and protests sparked by mass immigration raids at places where people gather to find work, like Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse.
The administration denies troops were used in civil law enforcement and plans to show they were protecting federal property and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Many of the troops have been withdrawn, but California's Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Aug. 11 that 300 National Guard members are still going on immigration raids and restricting civilian movements in the state.
