Judge Blocks National Guard Deployment to Portland

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, was unconstitutional.

On Sunday, US District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, temporarily extended an order blocking the administration from deploying troops to The Rose City, saying the government failed to justify the move.

In the Sunday evening order, Immergut temporarily blocked “Defendant Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth from implementing” memorandums that authorized the federalization and deployment of National Guard members from Oregon, Texas and California into Portland.

The injunction remained in effect until Friday.

Friday’s 106-page ruling makes the order permanent.

It followed a three-day trial over whether protests at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland warranted use of the military domestically under federal law.

The administration said the troops were needed to protect federal personnel and property.

Immergut said in the ruling the “evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were objected to by Oregon’s governor and not requested by the federal officials in charge of protection of the ICE building, exceeded the President’s authority” because he wasn’t able to demonstrate there was a rebellion or threat of rebellion that couldn’t be enforced without the military.

The judge added that “even giving great deference to the President’s determination, the President did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard.”

Immergut called the order unconstitutional, saying that it violated the 10th Amendment, “which ‘reserves to the States’ any powers not expressly delegated to the federal government in the Constitution.”

The city of Portland and state of Oregon had sued the administration over the deployment in September after Hegseth sent 200 troops to the city.

The administration can appeal the decision.

The administration also faces a temporary injunction in Chicago, where a judge has barred the administration from deploying troops.