A Tennessee state court judge temporarily blocked on Monday Republican Governor Bill Lee's deployment of National Guard troops to the city of Memphis, ruling that the use of troops was likely not legal under the state's militia law.
Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal of the Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville said the militia law required Tennessee's General Assembly to call in the National Guard for public safety.
She ruled that crime rates in Memphis were not a "grave emergency" or "disaster" that would authorize Lee to send troops in his role as commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces.
Her order blocks the governor from "continuing the activation and deployment of Tennessee National Guard personnel" pending further court proceedings. But it will not take effect for five days, to give Lee time to appeal.
National Guard troops began patrolling Memphis as part of a federal task force to combat crime after Republican President Donald Trump requested the deployment in September.
State lawmakers and Shelby County mayor Lee Harris sued the governor to block the deployment, saying the use of the troops for law enforcement violates the Tennessee constitution and state laws.
"This is a positive step toward ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including everyday Tennesseans and even the governor," Harris said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Memphis is one of several US cities to which Trump has sent the National Guard, departing from norms against deploying troops on US soil.
Trump has said they are needed to suppress civil unrest, support immigration enforcement and fight crime. Democrats have accused the Republican president of abusing military powers meant for grave emergencies such as an invasion.
National Guard deployments to the Democratic-led cities of Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, and Washington also face legal challenges.
Three district court judges have ruled against Trump's use of troops in preliminary rulings, saying the president cannot summon the military to respond to routine protests or engage in law enforcement.
Two appeals courts have split on the issue, which is likely to ultimately go to the US Supreme Court.
The situation in Memphis differs from others, as the troops are being deployed by the Republican state governor and remain under the state's control.
Elsewhere, the troops deployed by Trump have faced opposition from Democratic governors and local officials to their use, leading him to place those states' National Guard under control of the federal government.
The Memphis lawsuit seeks to stop the troop deployment based on Tennessee state law, unlike the rest, which are based on federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
Memphis, a city of 611,000 along the Mississippi River, has one of the highest violent crime rates in the United States, FBI figures show. About 24% of residents live in poverty, more than double the national average, the US Census Bureau says.
US Border Patrol arrests over 130 in first 48 hours of Charlotte immigration operation
Over 130 people suspected of being in the US illegally have been detained in Charlotte, North Carolina, authorities said on Monday, as Trump's nationwide mass deportation campaign ramped up in the South.
Rob Brisley, a spokesperson for US Customs and Border Protection, said that Border Patrol agents had arrested over 130 people on Saturday and Sunday in Charlotte during the first two days of the federal operation targeting undocumented migrants.
"We will not stop enforcing the laws of our nation until every criminal illegal alien is arrested and removed from our country," Brisley said.
He did not give details on ongoing operations Monday. It was not clear when the operation in the southern city would end.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell, a Democrat, said the North Carolina operation would expand to her city, the second largest in the state after Charlotte, and that Raleigh police have not participated in any planning.
"I ask Raleigh to remember our values and maintain peace and respect through any upcoming challenges," Cowell said in a statement.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, said that the constitutional rights and protections of every person in Charlotte, regardless of their immigration status, must be upheld, and said that city officials were working to support the impacted people and communities "while working within complicated legal boundaries."
"To everyone in Charlotte who is feeling anxious or fearful: you are not alone," Lyles wrote on social media. "Your city stands with you."
Charlotte has seen peaceful protests in response to the crackdown, including a walkout on Monday by the students of East Mecklenburg High School, and videos of arrests have been posted across social media, including one showing masked agents smashing a pickup window and dragging a man out.
Some Latino-run businesses closed over the weekend and remained shuttered Monday in Charlotte, a city of 943,000 people and one of the fastest growing areas in the US, according to the Census Bureau. Many people are drawn by higher-paying jobs in the growing finance, tech and logistics sectors.
Mass deportation and strict enforcement of immigration laws have been a key part of Trump’s domestic policy agenda. Since Trump, a Republican, took office in January, federal immigration agents have carried out raids in largely Democratic-run cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, and in more conservative rural areas.
The aggressive immigration enforcement by federal agents has led to some large protests across the country, and confrontations between federal agents and ordinary citizens, many of whom take video of the operations as they play out in their neighborhoods.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, sharply criticized the operation in Charlotte over the weekend, saying in a video address that "we’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks."
The Department of Homeland Security has said that the raids in Charlotte were a response to the refusal of local officials to comply with almost 1,400 requests by immigration officials to hold suspects for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released, so that immigration agents could take the suspects into custody as they are released.