President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard for the first time in his presidency on Saturday, June 7, 2025. Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles (LA) to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. On Monday, June 9, 2025, Trump ordered 700 U.S. Marines to go to LA to further protect the federal officers. Both of these actions bypassed Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who strongly opposed the order and currently opposes the deployment of the National Guard nationwide. After Trump ordered these deployments, Newsom announced that California would sue the Trump administration over the decision.
A few months later, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, Newsom announced that he would sue the administration again, for the second time. Due to citizens protesting ICE in Portland, Oregon, Trump attempted to deploy the Oregon National Guard to the city. However, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, appointed by Trump, ruled this as illegal, finding no legal basis to deploy the troops to the streets of Portland.
To combat this decision, Trump announced that he would send 300 federally controlled members of the California National Guard to Portland instead. The same federal judge also rejected the deployment of the federal troops, bringing up that this decision may “risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation,” according to the press release from Newsom’s team.
Newsom then released a statement in which he said, “This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power. The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States.”
The public has not been fully quiet during the Trump administration, with many protests taking place in cities around the nation, the most prevalent of those being the protests in Portland. These protests have drawn many participants and gained national attention.
This subject has also been gaining traction at Berkeley High School. “In my English class I’ve been writing about news every week ... a lot of them are about Trump and ICE and people seem to have strong opinions. I feel like us talking about it and voicing our opinions is us fighting back just because we’re gaining awareness,” BHS junior Josephine Smith said.
“I also know a lot of people who are going to the No Kings day protests this weekend,” Smith said. On Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, around seven million people across the country marched and protested against the current administration and its actions. These protests included over two million more people than the one that happened a couple months ago in June, which included around five million people. Saturday’s protests were held at over 2,700 events across the nation.
There has been an increase in political action to combat the Trump administration in states around the country. On Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, the No Secret Police Act will take effect. This bill, which was signed into law by Newsom in September, prevents all local and federal law enforcement, including ICE, from wearing masks to cover their identity while on duty. It also commands that officers be clearly identifiable by their name or badge number. It came after much increased federal enforcement in LA.
The bill was written by Senator Scott Wiener and was the first of its kind in the country. Many states have now introduced similar measures, including Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York, yet they have not been enacted so far.
Six days after Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act, the Trump administration ordered federal authorities to ignore the new legislation. Bill Essayli, who was appointed by Trump to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wrote on the social media platform X, “Governor Newsom is confused about his role under the U.S. Constitution … California’s law to ‘unmask’ federal agents is unconstitutional, as the state lacks jurisdiction to interfere with federal law enforcement. I have directed federal agencies to disregard this state law and adhere to federal law and agency policies.”
The Department of Homeland Security also issued a statement on X. “To be clear: We will NOT comply with Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban,” they wrote.
California’s government is still set to enact the bill at the start of 2026. With many new actions being taken by the California government, there is hope that this will help the nation recognize federal abuse of power.