A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s order to send hundreds of California National Guard troops to Portland to replace troops from Oregon’s National Guard after the same judge blocked that deployment.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, an appointee of Trump’s from his first term, said the order basically flouted her original ruling from Saturday, in which she shot down the president’s argument that crime in Portland was out of control and necessitated a federal response.
“How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention of the TRO that I issued yesterday?” she asked an attorney from the U.S. Justice Department.
Immergut said the order violated a federal statute and the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which divides power between the federal government and the states.
The ruling also prevents the use of troops from any other state in Oregon.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who challenged Trump’s order in court, celebrated the ruling.
“BREAKING: We just won in court — again,” Newsom posted Sunday on X. “A federal judge BLOCKED Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to DEPLOY 300 OF OUR NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO PORTLAND.
“The court granted our request for a Temporary Restraining Order — HALTING ANY FEDERALIZATION, RELOCATION, OR DEPLOYMENT of ANY GUARD MEMBERS TO OREGON FROM ANY STATE.
“Trump’s abuse of power won’t stand.”
Earlier this year, Trump deployed California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to help protect federal facilities after violence broke out in June in response to the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. That move was assailed as unnecessary and provocative by Newsom and top Democratic officials in Los Angeles, including Mayor Karen Bass, and is also being challenged in court.
The troops ordered to Portland were part of that Los Angeles deployment.
Newsom had said the number of troops ordered to Portland was 300.
“At the direction of the president, approximately 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned from duty in the greater Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said before Sunday’s ruling.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Sunday that about 100 California Guard troops had already arrived in Oregon and more were on the way.
Trump ordered Oregon’s guard troops to Portland on Sept. 28 to help local law enforcement amid what he has described as a serious crime wave in that city. Local officials disputed the accuracy of that assessment, and on Saturday Immergut agreed, saying the city has seen relatively minor street protests that did not rise to the level of urgency characterized by Trump.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt disputed both of Immergut’s rulings during her news conference Monday.
“The president is using his authority as commander in chief under U.S. Code 12406, which clearly states that the president has the right to call up the National Guard in cases where he deems it’s appropriate,” she said. “If you look at what has happened in Portland, Oregon, for more than 100 nights … night after night after night, the ICE facility has been really under siege by these anarchists outside. They have been disrespecting law enforcement, they’ve been inciting violence. We saw, again, a guillotine rolled out in front of this federal building, and so the president wants to ensure that our federal building and our assets are protected.
“… Ultimately, in the case in Los Angeles, that judge ruled, in the Ninth circuit, that panel of judges ruled that those troops could remain, and that the president was well within his authority.”