US appeals court pauses restrictions on Trump's use of troops in Los Angeles

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Thursday paused a lower court ruling that restricted President Donald Trump's use of troops to support federal law enforcement and immigration raids in Los Angeles, preserving the status quo while the Trump administration appeals.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration willfully violated a 19th-century law that limits the use of the military for domestic enforcement by employing troops to control crowds and bolster federal agents during immigration and drug raids in Los Angeles and its surrounding area. Breyer restricted troops from doing police work in California. 

The administration quickly appealed the ruling, and the 9th Circuit blocked Breyer's ruling from taking effect while it considers the case. Breyer had already delayed his ruling until September 12 to allow the Trump administration time to appeal.

Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard members and 700 active-duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June, saying the troops were needed to quell unrest and protests over the administration's immigration policy. About 300 National Guard troops remain deployed to Los Angeles and have been used to support federal immigration raids and drug enforcement actions after the protests died down.

Tuesday's ruling dealt a setback to Trump's push to broaden the role of the military on U.S. soil, which critics say is a dangerous expansion of executive authority that could spark tensions between troops and ordinary citizens.

Trump has already sent National Guard troops to police Washington, D.C., and expressed his desire to send troops to Chicago and New Orleans. The 9th Circuit's ruling came on the same day that Washington's attorney general filed a lawsuit seeking to end the troop deployment in the nation's capital.

(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; editing by Diane Craft, Rod Nickel)