A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland, issuing a ruling on Saturday after the state and city filed a lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who was appointed by Trump, issued the order while the case proceeds. She stated that the relatively small protests in Portland didn’t justify the use of federalized forces, and allowing the deployment could infringe on Oregon’s state sovereignty.
Immergut emphasized the country’s long-standing tradition of resisting government overreach, particularly when it comes to military involvement in civilian matters. “This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” she wrote. “This boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.”
The Trump administration appealed the decision, filing a notice with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late on Saturday.
The dispute arose after the Trump administration announced that 200 Oregon National Guard troops would be federalized to protect federal buildings in Portland, following protests near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Trump had described the city as “war-ravaged,” a claim that Oregon officials deemed absurd. Protests in the area had generally been small, with a few dozen people involved in nightly demonstrations in recent weeks.
Judge Immergut acknowledged that the president has significant authority to federalize the National Guard in cases where local law enforcement cannot enforce federal laws, but noted that Portland’s protests were neither violent nor disruptive before the announcement. “The President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” Immergut wrote.
In response to the ruling, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the president’s actions, stating that he was exercising his legal authority to protect federal assets and personnel in the city after violent riots and attacks on law enforcement. “We expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” Jackson said.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield hailed the decision as an important check on presidential power. He criticized the characterization of Portland as “war-torn” and reiterated that the National Guard should not be used for political purposes.
Trump has previously threatened to deploy troops to several U.S. cities, particularly those led by Democrats, such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Memphis. During a speech to U.S. military leaders, he suggested using urban areas as training grounds for the armed forces.
Portland’s protests, which had largely been contained to a single block, grew somewhat after the National Guard deployment was announced on September 28. Police made some arrests for assault, but the majority of protests remained peaceful. On October 4, approximately 400 people marched to the ICE facility, where federal agents responded with chemical crowd control munitions and arrested at least six individuals.
Earlier, the Trump administration had sent federal officers to Portland in 2020 to protect federal property amid racial justice protests that followed George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. The deployment led to violent clashes, with federal officers using rubber bullets, tear gas, and arresting individuals in unmarked vehicles. An internal report from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that while the government had the legal right to deploy these officers, many lacked proper training and equipment for the mission. This year, the administration settled an excessive force lawsuit brought by the ACLU, compensating several plaintiffs for their injuries.
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