The US government must stop deploying the California National Guard to Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials, who objected to President Donald Trump’s extraordinary move to use the state’s National Guard troops without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval.

Breyer also put the decision on hold until Monday to give the White House time to respond to the court.

“Donald Trump has diverted these brave men and women from their vital public safety operations and deployed them against the very communities they are sworn to serve,” Newsom said in a social media post on X. “Today’s verdict is unmistakably clear: the federalization of the California National Guard must end.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the ruling was a victory for democracy and the rule of law and accused the administration of playing “political games” with the military.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson indicated in a statement that the administration would appeal Breyer’s ruling, saying it looked forward to a “final victory on this matter.”

It remains part of the original implementation

California has argued that conditions in Los Angeles have changed since Trump first took command of the troops in June, citing immigration enforcement requirements. The administration initially called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops, but that number dropped to a few hundred by the end of October.

Only about 100 troops remain in the Los Angeles area, with several hundred Marines also deployed eventually recalled after a few weeks.

The Republican administration extended the deployment until February while also trying to use members of the California Guard in Portland, Ore.

Attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department said the administration still needs Guard members in the Los Angeles area to help protect federal personnel and property.

Trump’s call marked the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard had been activated without the request of its governor, and it marked a significant escalation in the administration’s efforts to implement its mass deportation policy.

Troopers were stationed outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles, where protesters gathered, and were later sent into the streets to protect immigration officials as they made arrests.

California argued that the president used Guard members as his personal police, violating a law that limits the use of the military in domestic affairs. Outside of the court battle, Newsom complained that some of the National Guard members were the ones often called upon to help in the state’s annual battle with wildfires.

The administration said the courts could not review the president’s decision that the violence during the protests prevented him from enforcing US law with regular forces and reflected an insurgency or threat of an insurgency.

Breyer described that expansive interpretation as “shocking” in his ruling.

“The founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. The defendants, however, are making it clear that the only check they want is the one that is not met,” Breyer said, referring to the Trump administration.

Breyer, the brother of former US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, ruled in September after a brief trial that the deployment itself violated the law.

Legal problems for the Trump administration

Other judges have blocked the administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon and Chicago.

The Trump administration has mostly targeted cities run by municipal officials who are Democrats. Officials from those cities rejected claims of widespread crime and disorder, pointing to a downward trend in violent crime that rose in the first two years of the pandemic.

The deployments occurred even though members of the National Guard are prohibited from performing police duties under the Posse Comitatus Act.

In the case of California, some of the more violent incidents of unauthorized deportation efforts have occurred far from downtown Los Angeles.

WATCH | An activist describes the chilling effect of the raids:

Migrant patients in Los Angeles are afraid to seek medical help, says nurse

Amanda Trebach, an intensive care nurse and peace patrol activist at the port, says migrants from local communities avoid hospitals because masked agents are known to patrol around them and other public institutions, looking for people to arrest, detain and deport.

In May, protests erupted in San Diego after flashlights and assault rifles were used in an immigrant raid on an Italian restaurant.

In June, a worker died after falling nine meters from the roof of a greenhouse in Camarillo, California, while trying to escape a raid by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Jaime Alanís, the victim, is believed to be in his mid-50s.