U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Saturday put a temporary halt on President Donald Trump's plan to send 200 National Guard troops to Portland, while a lawsuit over the decision is still being decided.
Restraining Order During Lawsuit
Oregon's Democratic Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the lawsuit on September 28, a day after President Trump announced his plan to deploy troops to Portland to guard federal immigration facilities, which he described as being threatened by "domestic terrorists," according to a Reuters report.
The ruling comes as Trump faces security challenges domestically and abroad, including recent NATO airspace breaches in Poland and Romania.
Contrasting Descriptions Of Portland Situation
At a court hearing on Friday, Justice Department attorney Eric Hamilton said that "vicious and cruel radicals" had attacked the Portland headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He argued that the planned deployment of 200 troops made up only about 5% of the forces recently sent to handle protests in Los Angeles, which he said demonstrated restraint.
Caroline Turco, representing Portland, said there had been no violence against ICE officers for months. Oregon's lawsuit stated that Portland protests were "small and sedate," leading to 25 arrests in mid-June and none in the three and a half months since June 19.
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Social Media Post Questions
Judge Immergut pressed the attorneys on how much weight she should give to Trump's social media posts about conditions in Portland.
"Really? A social media post is going to count as a presidential determination that you can send the National Guard to cities?" she asked during the hearing.
Legal Arguments And Similar Cases
Oregon's lawsuit argues that Trump's deployment violates federal law and the state's sovereign authority to police its own residents. It also claims that targeting Democratic-led cities like Portland breaches the 10th Amendment.
Similar legal challenges are ongoing in California, where a federal judge blocked military use for crime fighting on September 2, and Washington D.C., where the attorney general filed suit on September 4.
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