Courts are divided over whether the president has the authority to send the National Guard to states where governors don’t want them to.
Federal appeals court allows National Guard to be sent to Portland
An appeals court upheld the deployment of the National Guard to Portland amid a legal battle, but disagreed with the assessment that deemed the city a “war zone.”
A federal judge in Portland renewed President Donald Trump’s temporary injunction against deploying the National Guard as an appeals court continues to consider a ruling that overturned one of its earlier rulings.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Nov. 2 blocked Trump from sending National Guard troops from other states, including Oregon, while considering evidence from a three-day trial last week. She said the 750 items on display were “huge.”
“The interests of justice require this court to complete a thorough review of the exhibits and court record before making a final decision on the merits,” Immergut wrote.
Her block will be in place until November 7th at 5pm PT, at which time she is expected to issue a final judgment in the case. However, the case remains controversial at the appellate level.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned one of the judges’ previous injunctions on the deployment. But the deployment remains suspended due to another Immergut order that the government did not appeal.
The full Ninth Circuit agreed to reconsider the decision, but no hearing date has yet been set.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth federalized 200 members of the Oregon National Guard on September 28. He also ordered the federal Texas National Guard to head to Portland on October 5, and ordered troops from California and Texas to be deployed to the city on October 16.
Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson filed a lawsuit challenging the deployment.
Immergut had previously temporarily blocked sending troops to countries that did not want them, based on “widespread fears” that sending troops to countries that did not want them “posed an intolerable threat to individual freedoms and the sovereignty of separate states.”
President Trump has maintained that he has the authority to deploy the National Guard in the event of invasion, insurrection, or if the law cannot be enforced. President Trump described Portland as “war-torn” and “besieged” by protests against immigration enforcement.
But Immergut said protests outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building from June 15 to September 27 were “generally peaceful, with occasional disturbances to federal personnel and property.”
“While there were sporadic instances of illegal activity, federal law enforcement, in cooperation with local law enforcement, was able to control the situation and arrest and prosecute those responsible for criminal activity,” Immergut wrote.
