A US federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying National Guard troops from Texas and California to Portland, Oregon.
The decision late on Sunday comes after the same court denied Trump’s attempt to deploy Oregon’s own National Guard members to Portland.
Portland is the latest Democratic-led city targeted as part of the president’s attempt to address what he says is out-of-control crime, amid protests over his administration’s immigration enforcement.
Trump has also authorised the deployment of National Guard troops from other states to Chicago, Illinois.
The ruling on Sunday from US District Judge Karin Immergut came shortly after the Pentagon confirmed 200 members of the California National Guard had been reassigned to Portland to “support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties”.
California and Oregon had sought a temporary restraining order against the deployment.
Judge Immergut, who was appointed by Trump, said there was no evidence that recent protests in the city made the presence of federalised National Guard troops necessary.
During Sunday’s emergency hearing, she pressed lawyers from the federal government on how the deployment of troops from other states was not simply a way to circumvent her earlier decision denying the deployment of Oregon’s National Guard.
In that decision, she said the use of the military to quell unrest without Oregon’s consent risked the sovereignty of that state and others, and inflamed tensions in the city of Portland.
The White House is yet to respond to Sunday’s ruling, but Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, called the ruling on X “one of the most egregious and thunderous violations of constitutional order we have ever seen – and is yet the latest example of unceasing efforts to nullify the 2024 election by fiat”.
The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until at least 19 October. The Trump administration is expected to quickly appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, Illinois state and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Trump administration aiming to block a similar planned deployment of troops to the city.
“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly for the reason that their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said late on Sunday night that Trump was “ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States”.
In a statement, the governor called the proposed deployment “Trump’s invasion”, and said there was “no reason” to send troops into any state without the “knowledge, consent, or co-operation” of local officials.
He told CNN that the authorisation of troops there would incite protests and accused the administration of creating a “warzone” to rationalise the response.
Pritzker also called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to “immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to co-ordinate”.
In response, Abbott said he “fully authorized” Trump’s decision to call up the Texas National Guard “to ensure safety for federal officials”.
“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” he said in a statement on X.
Like Portland, Chicago has seen protests over increased immigration enforcement. On Saturday, protests became violent, with immigration authorities saying they opened fire on an armed woman after she and others allegedly rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.
The woman’s condition is unclear, but officials said she drove herself to hospital.
Protests have been ongoing in Portland and other cities over the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement.
Portland, in particular, has long drawn Trump’s ire over its alleged concentration of people his supporters describe as Antifa, short for “anti-fascist”. The president recently signed an executive order designating the group, which is a loosely organised movement of far-left activists, as a domestic terrorist organisation.
The Portland deployment came one day after Trump authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago under a similar pretext.
The National Guard is the primary combat reserve of the Army and Air Force. The state-based military force can be called up by either a state governor or the US president. It is often deployed to provide disaster relief after floods and hurricanes but can also support military operations overseas.
Over the summer, Trump directed National Guard troops to be deployed in Washington DC and Los Angeles, saying they were needed to quell crime or protests. These were significant decisions, as deployments are typically left to a state’s governor.
Trump has sought to use National Guard troops in a number of US cities to crack down on crime and support immigration enforcement – including in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California.
In September, a federal judge in California ruled Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles was illegal because it violated an act that limits the power of the federal government to use military force for domestic matters.
The administration is appealing that decision.
