Civil Rights and Legal Services Community Unite to End National Guard Policing D.C.

WASHINGTON – A group of D.C.-based civil rights and legal services organizations have filed an amicus brief urging the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to stop the deployment of National Guard troops into the nation’s capital for domestic law enforcement. The organizations that work directly with D.C. residents assert that the president’s actions threaten local democracy, safety, and the rights of the people who live in the capital.

"D.C. residents deserve meaningful democratic control over and accountability from the people who enforce the laws in our city,” said Madeleine Gates, associate counsel at the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. "The use of state militia troops for policing denies District residents a voice in community safety. The district court correctly recognized that this deployment is outside the president's authority to order, and we urge the D.C. Circuit to affirm that ruling."

“Law enforcement must be accountable to the communities they serve, and history shows that, when they aren’t, Black and brown residents pay an especially high price,” said Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of D.C. “The Trump administration’s reckless and entirely unnecessary deployment of the National Guard undercuts local accountability by sending in troops who report to Trump himself or to state governors whom Washingtonians had no role in electing. There is no emergency here, and there’s no need for the Guard to be here.”

The amicus brief traces the racialized history of the fight for democracy in the District, highlighting how limiting D.C. residents' voting power has often been tied to efforts to restrict the rights of people of color and how D.C. residents continue to lack democratic representation and control that other Americans can take for granted. The coalition points out that the deployment of federal troops, who are not trained for local policing and are not answerable to city officials, makes these problems worse and ignores democratic values. They warn that sending the National Guard for law enforcement in D.C. harms the fight for equal rights and local self-rule.

On November 20, 2025, District Judge Jia M. Cobb ruled in favor of the District, granting a temporary pause in the deployment of the National Guard troops for policing duties. That ruling never took effect, however, because a panel of the D.C. Circuit granted a stay pending the appeal of the district court ruling. The amicus brief asks the appellate court to uphold the district court's order halting the deployment.

The amicus brief was filed by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia on behalf of themselves and Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Bread for the City, Children’s Law Center, D.C. Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, Disability Rights D.C. at University Legal Services, League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia, Legal Aid D.C., School Justice Project, Tzedek D.C., and Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. These organizations are deeply committed to fostering an accountable and effective local government in D.C. and work in close partnership with residents, especially those most vulnerable.

The case is District of Columbia v. Trump, No. 25-5418 (D.C. Cir.).

Read the amicus brief here.

Read the District’s appellee brief here.

WASHINGTON LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND URBAN AFFAIRS

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee works to create legal, economic, and social equity through litigation, client and public education and public policy advocacy. While we fight discrimination against all people, we recognize the central role that current and historic race discrimination plays in sustaining inequity and recognize the critical importance of identifying, exposing, combatting, and dismantling the systems that sustain racial oppression.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.) envisions a free and just D.C. where everyone, particularly historically oppressed communities, lives free from systemic governmental oppression. With the support of over 10,000 members and supporters, we use an integrated advocacy approach—public education, political advocacy, and litigation—to protect and advance civil liberties and civil rights for people who live in, work in, and visit D.C. We are a local affiliate of the ACLU, a nonpartisan nonprofit that dares to create a more perfect union.