Trendpills
A federal judge on Friday issued a permanent injunction blocking the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops in Portland, Oregon, ruling that the president had overstepped his legal authority. The decision, delivered by U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut, a Trump appointee, concludes a legal battle between the state of Oregon and the federal government over the use of military forces in the city.
In her 106-page ruling, Judge Immergut found that President Donald Trump's move to federalize the troops without the consent of Oregon's governor was unlawful. "The evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were objected to by Oregon's governor and not requested by the city of Portland for law enforcement purposes, exceeded the President's authority," she wrote. The decision makes permanent a temporary restraining order she had issued in October.
The conflict began in late September when the Trump administration federalized approximately 200 members of the Oregon National Guard. The stated purpose was to protect the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, which had become a focal point for nightly protests. This move to federalize troops was met with immediate opposition from state and local officials, who argued it was an unnecessary and unconstitutional federal overreach into local law enforcement matters. Governor Tina Kotek had consistently refused to deploy the Guard for this purpose.
While the troops were placed under federal command, they were never actually deployed onto the streets of Portland. The state of Oregon, Portland’s city commissioners, and a coalition of community groups filed a lawsuit arguing the president lacked the authority under the Insurrection Act or any other law to take control of the state's Guard against the governor’s will for domestic law enforcement.
Legal experts and court documents highlighted the constitutional tension between federal power and states' rights concerning the command of National Guard units. The ruling reinforces the principle that a president's authority to deploy a state’s National Guard for domestic law enforcement has significant limitations. Following the expedited three-day trial, the court's decision serves as a significant check on executive power in the context of civil unrest.
