A federal judge in Oregon blocked on Saturday the deployment of 200 Troops from the National Guard to Portland.
The American District Judge Karin J. Immingut, a designated President Donald Trump, issued a temporary restriction order after Oregon and Portland sued. The order expires on October 18 but could extend.
Immergut wrote in its ruling that the United States Constitution grants Congress the power to call troops, the “militia” in the founding document, to execute laws, suppress an insurrection or repel an invasion. She wrote that Trump’s attempt to federalize the National Guard in the absence of the constitutional authority undermines Oregon’s sovereign interests.
“This country has a long -standing and fundamental resistance tradition to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion in civil matters,” Immorct wrote.
“This historical tradition is reduced to a simple proposal: this is a nation of constitutional law, not of martial law. The defendants have made a variety of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between the civil and military federal power, to the detriment of this nation,” he wrote.
The ruling is not the last saying, but Immerut wrote that the plaintiffs showed a probability of success in merits, justifying a temporary restriction order. Block the implementation of a September 28 note that orders the federalization and deployment of the Oregon National Guard.
The governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, said on Saturday that “justice has been served and that the truth has prevailed.”
“There is no insurrection in Portland. There is no threat to national security. Without fires, or bombs, or deaths due to civil disturbances. The only threat we face is for our democracy, and is being directed by President Donald Trump,” he said in a statement.
A White House spokesman suggested that the restriction order can be appealed.
“President Trump exercised his legal authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland after violent disturbances and attacks against the application of the law; we hope to be claimed by a superior court,” said spokesman Abigail Jackson.
The ruling is a setback for the Trump administration, since it seeks to use military troops in some cities administered by Democrat.
Last month, a federal judge in California, ruled that the use of the National Guard and the Marines in Los Angeles by the Trump administration in Los Angeles was illegal.
In that case, the American district judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled that the Administration violated the POSSE Comitatus law, the 1878 law that prohibits the president from using the military as a domestic police force.
In the case of Portland, the city and the State demanded on September 28 to avoid the use of military troops in Portland, and asked a Federal Court to stop the deployment in the city.
Hours after a Friday hearing before Immerut and before issuing any ruling, the United States Northern Command announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had activated the 200 troops.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Trump ordered Hegseth to call Oregon’s National Guard to the federal service for 60 days to protect the application of immigration and customs and other government staff in the city.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Saturday: “We are in an incredibly dangerous place in the United States at this time.”
He said that the effort to deploy the National Guard “seems to be the president’s attempt to normalize the United States Army in our cities.”
Portland is not the only American city that Trump has attended for the deployment of military troops.
On September 15, Trump signed a memorando ordering the National Guard to Memphis. Although Tennessee has a republican government, the mayor of the city is a Democrat.
That order was also to send to the federal agencies of application of the law to Memphis in what Trump characterized as an offensive against crime.
Trump said in that signature of September 15 that Chicago was “probably next.”
The governors have the authority to deploy the National Guard of their states. The Trump administration would be federal of the National Guard to send troops to the cities if the governor refuses to do so.
On Saturday, the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said the Trump administration informed him that the Department of Defense plans to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and deploy them within their state.
Pritzker said that defense department officials gave him an ultimátel to “call his troops, or we will.” Pritzker said he would refuse.
“I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the state of Illinois,” said Pritzker. “I will not call our National Guard to promote Trump’s aggression acts against our people.”
There have been protests in Portland outside an ice building after Trump signed a June 7 memorandum that authorizes the federalization of the National Guard, Immigut wrote in Saturday’s order.
There was violence during some of the protests, but after June 25 they were mostly peaceful, he wrote.
“At the end of September, these protests generally involved twenty or less people,” Impemut wrote.
The mayor of Portland, Keith Wilson, defended his city on Saturday after the ruling was issued.
“I just want everyone to know: Portland is a peaceful city. This narrative was manufactured,” he said.
