By Yasin Gungor
ISTANBUL (AA) - A US appeals court on Thursday temporarily suspended a lower court order that would have forced President Donald Trump to remove more than 2,000 National Guard troops from the capital, Washington, DC.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an administrative stay of a Nov. 20 district court ruling, allowing the deployment to continue while the court considers Trump's appeal.
The court clarified that the stay "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits" of the case but is meant to give judges "sufficient opportunity to consider the motion for stay pending appeal."
US District Judge Jia Cobb ruled Nov. 20 that Trump's deployment, initiated in August to address immigration and crime, likely violated federal law. Her preliminary injunction was set to take effect on Dec. 11.
Trump ordered 500 more troops after a Nov. 26 shooting near the White House that killed one National Guard member and injured another.
He has authorized National Guard deployments to several US cities since June this year, primarily to address protests against mass deportation raids, immigration enforcement and urban crime.