A federal judge in Oregon has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland. The order follows President Trump’s announcement that he planned to send troops to protect what he described as a “war-ravaged” city.
The decision, by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut — a Trump appointee — is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for the administration’s efforts to increase federal intervention in Democratic-led cities experiencing high levels of unrest and crime, CNN reported.
In her ruling, Judge Immergut wrote that Oregon and the city of Portland “are likely to succeed on their claim that the President exceeded his constitutional authority and violated the Tenth Amendment.”
Critics immediately panned the ruling as wrong-headed, noting that Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution names the president as the “commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States.”
Recent incidents cited by the Trump administration of protesters clashing with federal officers, “are inexcusable, but they are nowhere near the type of incidents that cannot be handled by regular law enforcement forces,” the judge claimed in her ruling.
The Trump administration “made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power—to the detriment of this nation,” she added.
Her ruling did not seem to consider that local law enforcement in Portland has been essentially banned from assisting federal officers, nor the president’s constitutional role as head of the military. In addition, the Trump administration has never claimed they would be using the military in a law enforcement role, which would be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. Rather, the military’s role would be to provide protection of federal property under siege by left-wing agitators.
The temporary restraining order is set to expire in 14 days, on October 18. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, said the state plans to seek an extension of the order.
In a filing submitted Friday, the Trump administration announced its intention to appeal Judge Immergut’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, CNN reported.
Rayfield said the court’s order returns command of the National Guard to Governor Tina Kotek.
State and city officials praised the ruling on Saturday night, saying it confirms that Portland was not experiencing a rebellion or major unrest in the weeks preceding the Trump administration’s deployment directive.
“Today’s ruling is a healthy check on the president’s power, and as the president, you must have actual facts based on reality, not social media or just your gut feeling, if you want to mobilize the military,” Rayfield claimed.
Oregon’s Democratic governor described the judge’s decision as a “a step in the right direction.”
“We would hope that President Trump respects the court decision and the rule of law,” Kotek said. “We would hope he reverses course.”
The Trump administration has cited recent unrest in both Portland and Chicago as justification for deploying federal troops to the two Democratic-led cities. Officials have pointed to new waves of protests and the recent arrest of a conservative social media personality as evidence of ongoing instability.
The White House said President Trump has authorized 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to “protect federal officers and assets” in Chicago. The move follows protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near the city on Friday that resulted in more than a dozen arrests.
The president and his administration have cited weekslong demonstrations outside the Portland ICE facility, framing them as “violent riots” tied to “Antifa domestic terrorists,” according to CNN.