Appeals Court Pauses Deployment of Troops to Portland for Now

The US appeals court that earlier this week allowed President Donald Trump’s deployment of troops to Portland, Oregon, put its ruling on hold until Oct. 28 while it weighs the state’s request for a rare reconsideration of the matter.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Friday issued a so-called administrative stay on an Oct. 20 ruling by a sharply divided three-judge panel. The stay means an Oct. 4 decision by a lower court judge to block deployment is back in effect for at least the next several days.

In the meantime, a full complement of appellate judges will consider holding a so-called en banc rehearing to review whether the 2-1 decision was correct on the law. Oregon requested the rehearing, as did the dissenting judge who said it was a dangerous decision.

Demonstrators outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland on Oct. 3.

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“This administrative order expresses no views on the merits of this matter and is not a reconsideration of the earlier stay order,” Senior Circuit Judge Sidney R. Thomas said in the order.

The Portland dispute comes as Trump continues to tout his plans to bring state National Guard troops under federal control and send them into Democratic-led cities where he claims violent protesters are impeding the activities of US immigration agents. Similar suits are challenging Trump’s deployments to Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Chicago.

Oregon argues a rehearing is warranted because the 2-1 ruling was wrong on the law. Friday’s order suggests the appeals court will complete its vote on whether to hold the review by Oct. 28, a day before the start of three-day trial in Portland on the merits of Oregon’s suit challenging the deployment.

The Portland is being being overseen by US District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee whose initial order against the deployment concluded the president was exaggerating the severity of the protests.

The case is State of Oregon vs. Donald Trump, 3:25-cv-01756, US District Court, District of Oregon (Portland).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Sara Forden

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