(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to maintain his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid protests over stepped-up immigration enforcement, temporarily pausing a lower court’s ruling blocking the mobilization.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision does not mean that the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but it means he will maintain command of the guard for now.

Earlier on Thursday, San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that Trump’s deployment of the Guard was unlawful. Breyer had ordered the National Guard to return to the control of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had brought the case.

It was a short-lived victory for Newsom, as Breyer’s order was paused a short time later.

The appeals court decision stands to leave in place the dynamic of weeklong street demonstrations that have been concentrated in downtown Los Angeles, largely at a federal detention center where National Guard troops have stood watch.

The Guard had also accompanied Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on operations.

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(Reporting by Brad Brooks, Sandra Stojanovic, Omar Younis, Jane Ross and Arafat Barbakh in Los Angeles, Luc Cohen and Dietrich Knauth in New York, and Idrees Ali in Washington; Additional reporting by Costas Pitas, Christian Martinez, Jasper Ward, Abhirup Roy and Alexia Garamfalvi; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Luc Cohen; Editing by Saad Sayeed, Ross Colvin, Mary Milliken, Nick Zieminski, Diane Craft, Edwina Gibbs, Noeleen Walder and Kate Mayberry)