NYC Backs California's Lawsuit to Block Deployment of National Guard

New York City is backing California in its efforts to stop the federal government from deploying the National Guard to cities. 

As part of a coalition of 13 localities from around the nation, city lawyers filed an amicus brief supporting California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ongoing case against the federal government’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. The coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to affirm a district court ruling in Newsom v. Trump, which enjoined the federal government from deploying federal troops in Los Angeles.

The coalition calls the federal deployment of armed soldiers on city streets an “unprecedented assault on fundamental American values” that has no basis in law and undermines public safety.

The brief highlights the risks of allowing the National Guard to become President Trump’s personal police force, according to New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant. 

“An unlawful military presence trampling on the sovereign rights of cities and undermining local law enforcement efforts should not be tolerated in any of our communities," she said in a statement.

The federal government has also sent troops to Washington, D.C. and has repeatedly made clear that New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Oakland and other cities are next. The brief encourages the court to put an immediate end to unchecked federal overreach and violation of the principles of federalism. 

Mayor Eric Adams said the federal government does not need to deploy the National Guard to New York City.

“New York City is the safest big city in America and home to the best police force in the world, and our results speak for themselves: crime is plummeting across the five boroughs, with major violent crimes reaching record lows,” Adams said. “Instead, we hope to continue to work with the federal government to stop the flow of illegal guns to our city from other cities and states. We remain committed to keeping New Yorkers safe through smart, precision-driven policing.”

In June 2025, the Trump administration federalized the National Guard in Los Angeles in response to protests of immigration enforcement operations. On June 12, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the deployment violated federal law because the president had exceeded the narrow authority granted to him by Congress and violated the Tenth Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed the district court ruling while it considered the merits of the federal government’s appeal.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Monday said she is "revolted" by the presence of the National Guard on big city streets, according to ABC News 7.

"As a lifelong New Yorker, I am revolted by the idea of the militarization of our streets," Tisch said during a breakfast at the Citizens Budget Commission. "I will be very clear with anybody, all of you, the attorney general, anyone who wants to talk to me about this that the NYPD, we've got this. We don't need or want the federal government's help here in that way."