Trump Blocked by Judge From Sending California Troops to Oregon

A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, blocked President Donald Trump for now from sending any National Guard troops to the city during protests against his immigration crackdown, after the state accused the government of trying to circumvent a narrower order issued a day earlier.

US District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary order late Sunday that will last at least 14 days, halting the administration’s plan to deploy hundreds of troops from California and Texas to Portland. Oregon and California may seek a longer-lasting order later.

The planned deployment appeared to be an effort to circumvent the judge’s order issued Saturday that barred Trump from sending 200 Oregon National Guard members to Portland, which Trump has falsely claimed is overrun by insurrectionists and is “burning to the ground.”

“It is not appropriate to bring federalized military into Oregon at this time,” the judge said.

Donald Trump

Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg

California and Oregon requested the temporary order after news emerged that the Trump administration planned to send troops from California and Texas to Oregon. The Pacific Northwest state argues that Trump is exaggerating the situation in Portland and that local law enforcement has shown it can handle protests. The judge said the protests have been limited.

The move by Trump follows earlier deployments of National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Memphis, Tennessee. The temporary order prohibits the relocation, federalization or deployment of any National Guard troops under the defendant’s command within Oregon.

Before the new order was handed down at an unusual Sunday night hearing, the judge repeatedly expressed frustration with the Justice Department’s lawyer, Eric Hamilton, saying he was “missing the point” of her earlier order and that “nothing has changed” in regards to the conditions in Portland.

“Mr. Hamilton, you’re an officer of the court,” the judge said. “Do you believe this is an appropriate way for you to deal with my order” or with an order “you disagree with?”

Since June, Portland has seen sporadic protests typically involving a few dozen people, focused on a single US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside downtown. Some protests have been larger and resulted in isolated acts of violence, but local and state officials say that in all cases local law enforcement handled the situation.

Nevertheless, Trump has called Portland “war-ravaged.” He claimed, without evidence, that local officials deny his description only because they fear for their lives.

The troops arrived Saturday night with no prior notice to state officials, and more troops are on the way, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement Sunday before the latest ruling.

Oregon officials previously said they would return to federal court Monday because the 14-day restraining order only stopped the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops.

Troops were ordered to Illinois in a similar manner.

Federalized Troops

The Trump administration has said that federalized troops are needed to protect immigration officers from protesters in Democratic-run cities, even as local officials said demonstrations have been modest and largely peaceful.

At the direction of Trump, about 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned to Portland to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

The move marks another dramatic escalation in Trump’s campaign to federalize law enforcement in Democratic cities, with his administration now trying to find ways around federal court orders.

Federal law enforcement officers clash with protesters outside an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 4.

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed for a temporary restraining order that sought to bar the deployment of what he said were 300 of the state’s Guard troops to Oregon, according to a statement from his office on Sunday night.

“This disrespect for the rule of law cannot stand — and I’m glad the court agreed,” Bonta said after the latest ruling.

Immergut previously said there were no facts to support Trump’s claims that Portland was “war-ravaged” and that anarchists and professional agitators were trying to burn down federal property and other buildings.

“The president’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” Immergut wrote.

Immergut, in the previous order, agreed that courts should give great deference to the president in making such decisions, but she disagreed that Trump had made his determination about Portland in good faith and ruled that deference “is not equivalent to ignoring the facts on the ground.”

Read More: Judge Blocks Trump Oregon Plan as Guards Ordered to Illinois

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Sunday that Trump had ordered the deployment of 400 members of the Texas National Guard to his state and other parts of the US, adding in a statement, “no officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, said on X that he “fully authorized the President” to call up 400 members of the Texas Guard for deployment.

The California National Guard was federalized in June for 90 days, when Trump first started using military troops to help combat what he claims is high crime and to protect federal agents carrying out his deportation actions. Trump was attempting to federalize the California Guard for another 90 days, according to the California Department of Justice.

The Memphis deployment was conducted with the agreement of Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

(Updates with details from court, background.)

--With assistance from Catherine Lucey, Felipe Marques, Miranda Davis, John Gittelsohn and Julie Fine.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net;
Wendy Benjaminson in Washington at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net

Jon Herskovitz, Ben Bain

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