How Extreme Can Democratic Governors Get to Stop Trump?

“Could a state say, ‘we’re requiring federal officials to present a warrant?’” asked LaCroix. “That is right at the heartland of this deep question that asks, ‘do we actually have a federal structure with states having some degree of autonomy?’ and formal line drawing would suggest: yes, states can draw those kinds of lines in their territory over their persons, citizens, residents, and that is embedded in this long, long body of legal doctrine, some of which comes from this ‘new federalism’ conservative Rehnquist Court.”

That gets us to the most uncomfortable question, which is the operational one. Let’s say a governor does decide that their realm of responsibility for the public safety and good order of their state requires limiting an out-of-control federal police force. They can develop this argument in court, they can get their attorneys general to defend it, but what happens on the ground? Does a governor order state police to, what, actively block the operations of federal officers until the latter can prove that they’re in compliance with basic legal provisions? What if the federal officers just don’t, or draw weapons on the local officers? It’s like a board game with a limited set of endings, of which a good chunk are, “open fire.”

That’s not a position any governor wants to be in, though there could be some conceivable scenarios where a confrontation ends up as the best of bad options, which is really what all of this is about. As Eddington noted, California—like 19 other states—has what are known as state defense forces, separate from the National Guard. Yet “it is relatively small, is armed only with small arms (rifles, pistols), and has no armored vehicles.” Newsom could in theory ask the legislature to significiantly expand the California State Guard and better arm it, as well as order the National Guard to refuse illegal federalization orders, which of course brings us back to the line that no one wants to cross.

I reached out to eleven Democratic governors’ offices in immigrant-heavy states around the country with specific questions about policies geared towards restricting unlawful federal operations, up to and including use of force standards. Only two — the office of Hawai’i Governor Josh Green and Maryland’s Wes Moore—provided concrete responses. Green’s office enphasized its “strong working relationship with our federal law enforcement and military partners” and then touted its lawsuits against unlawful federal activity. Meanwhile, a Moore spokesperson told The New Republic that their administration was “using every tool in their toolbox to protect all Marylanders,” citing the “dozens of lawsuits” they’ve filed against the Trump administration, and noting that Moore is in “constant communication” with the state’s Adjutant General. According to his spokesperson, “This is a personal issue for Governor Moore, as the son of an immigrant single mother.”