1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

Today I'm writing to demand that you stop Trump and his illegal authorization of troops in California. The National Guard has arrived in Los Angeles, but they were not requested by California Governor Newsom; and Mayor Bass made it clear that the state did not authorize or want federal troops deployed. Under normal circumstances, the president cannot federalize a state's National Guard without the governor's consent unless the Insurrection Act is formally invoked, which Trump did not do. Instead, he used a Title 10 to activate Guard units under federal command, something that is constitutionally dubious and violates the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars federal troops from engaging in federal law enforcement without proper authorization. This maneuver also clashes with the Militia Clause in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 15), which gives Congress, not the president, the power to call forth the militia under specific circumstances like insurrection or invasion. Constitutionally protected free speech and freedom of assembly to criticize the gestapo-like DHS and ICE immigration enforcement operations is not insurrection, and there is a risk of civil liberties eroding even further if this regime is allowed to call it such. Without these conditions being met and without state consent, Trump's move amounts to a clear violation of constitutional limits and federal law. What are you going to do about this?