NEWS: Sens. Schiff, Padilla Lead 19 Senators in Amicus Brief Fighting Trump Abuse of Military Deployments

Brief filed with circuit court hearing case against Trump's use of military in Los Angeles warns of continued abuse of military in other U.S. cities

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and 18 other Senators filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the lawsuit brought against President Trump for his misuse of the U.S. military earlier this year.

The lawsuit came from the State of California after Trump deployed thousands of members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps to Los Angeles without legal justification or approval from state or local officials.

"Donald Trump made his true motives for the deployment of our military in Los Angeles plain - instead of improving safety, he is focused on spectacle; instead of protecting Americans, he is punishing cities and states he believes are against him. Trump's abuse of power is clear, illegal, and unconstitutional - and our arguments to the Court explain why this case must be the line drawn in the sand to prevent further misuse of our servicemembers on the streets of American cities," said Senator Schiff.

"Donald Trump's militarized spectacle in Los Angeles was a blatantly unlawful attempt to distract from his failing political agenda and enact his cruel mass deportation agenda. Trump's deployment of the military to 'blue' cities across America has never been about public safety - it's about retribution and control," said Senator Padilla. "This abuse of power is a threat to much more than just California or immigrant communities: if the Circuit Court allows the President to bypass the Governor of California to federalize the National Guard to suppress peaceful protests for immigrants' rights, what's to stop him from suppressing other rights across the country? Our arguments to the Court make clear that Trump's unprecedented militarization of Los Angeles should not be used as a playbook for terrorizing other cities across America."

The brief filed by the Senators in Newsom v Trump warns of the potential for continued abuse of the military should the Court rule for the administration.

"Our concern that President Trump will continue to act in bad faith and abuse his power is borne out by his recent deployment of state militias to Washington, D.C. and his stated intent to deploy state militias in other blue' cities," the Senators wrote.

The brief was signed by Schiff, Padilla, Durbin, Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The amicus brief can be found here.

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