Trump administration can deploy National Guard to Portland, court rules
An appeals court on Monday overturned a temporary restraining order that prevented the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland, Oregon.
The ruling by a panel of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges allows the Trump administration to deploy Oregon National Guard troops in the state.
A broader order that prohibits any state's National Guard from deploying into Portland remains in effect.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield decried Monday's ruling, saying the panel of Ninth Circuit judges "has chosen to not hold the president accountable."
He said in a statement that it is likely the Trump administration will seek to dissolve the temporary restraining order that prevents any state's National Guard from deploying to Oregon, in light of Monday's ruling, and that his office urges the "full Ninth Circuit to vacate today's decision before the illegal deployments can occur."
"We'll continue to fight for Oregon's laws and values no matter what," Rayfield added.
In late September, President Donald Trump issued an order federalizing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to protect federal property amid ongoing protests at a Portland ICE facility, despite objections from local officials.
After the city of Portland and state of Oregon sued, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut earlier this month prohibited the deployment of the Oregon National Guard into the Portland area, finding that conditions in Portland were "not significantly violent or disruptive" to justify a federal takeover of the National Guard, and that the president's claims about the city were "simply untethered to the facts."
The Ninth Circuit's ruling on Monday found that the Trump administration was likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal of Immergut's ruling.
"After considering the record at this preliminary stage, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority" to federalize the National Guard, Monday's order stated.
Two Trump-nominated judges -- Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade -- ruled for the majority, finding that some of the protests at the ICE facility "have been peaceful, but many have turned violent, and protesters have threatened federal law enforcement officers and the building."
Judge Susan Graber, who was nominated by former President Bill Clinton, dissented. In her dissent, she stated that Monday's decision is "not merely absurd," but that it "erodes core constitutional principles, including sovereign States' control over their States' militias and the people's First Amendment rights to assemble and to object to the government’s policies and actions."
Immergut issued a second TRO earlier this month following the Trump administration's attempt to deploy members of the California National Guard to Portland. The Trump administration has not formally appealed or challenged that order.
