A federal judge has halted President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland temporarily, as a lawsuit against the move is underway.
This decision by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut in Portland is another challenge for Trump, a Republican, who aims to send military forces to cities he claims are chaotic, despite opposition from their Democratic leaders.
On September 28, Democratic Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s office filed the lawsuit, shortly after Trump announced deploying troops to Portland to safeguard federal immigration sites from what he called “domestic terrorists.”
“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” Immergut, a Trump appointee, wrote.
Judge Immergut rejected the Trump administration’s plea to suspend her ruling while they appeal. Her order is set to last 14 days but may be prolonged, with a trial date scheduled for October 29.
Eric Hamilton, a lawyer from the Department of Justice (DOJ), described “vicious and cruel radicals” as having besieged Portland’s ICE facility recently, leading the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to shut it down for three weeks during summer.
During proceedings, the judge raised concerns about a “sovereign interest in play,” relating to the state’s authority, but Hamilton argued that the National Guard’s tasks were primarily federal in nature.
In her Saturday ruling, Immergut agreed that the president is “certainly entitled” to a great level of deference but said that is not equivalent to “ignoring the facts on the ground.”
“The President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” the judge wrote.
The Hill, ‘s sister website, contributed to this report.
