A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, was unconstitutional.
On Sunday, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, temporarily extended an order blocking the administration from sending troops to The Rose City, stating that the government failed to justify the move.
In her Sunday evening order, Immergut temporarily blocked “Defendant Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth from implementing” memorandums that authorized the federalization and deployment of National Guard members from Oregon, Texas, and California into Portland. This injunction remained in effect until Friday.
Friday’s 106-page ruling made that order permanent. The decision came after a three-day trial examining whether protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland warranted the use of the military domestically under federal law. The administration argued that the troops were necessary to protect federal personnel and property.
However, Judge Immergut wrote in the ruling that the “evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were objected to by Oregon’s governor and not requested by the federal officials in charge of protection of the ICE building, exceeded the President’s authority.” She noted that the President failed to demonstrate there was a rebellion or threat of rebellion that could not be controlled without military intervention.
The judge added, “Even giving great deference to the President’s determination, the President did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard.”
Immergut further declared the order unconstitutional, citing that it violated the 10th Amendment. This amendment “reserves to the States any powers not expressly delegated to the federal government in the Constitution.”
The city of Portland and the state of Oregon sued the administration over the deployment in September, after Secretary Hegseth sent 200 troops to the city.
The administration has the option to appeal the decision. It also faces a temporary injunction in Chicago, where a judge has barred similar troop deployments.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/08/us-news/trump-admin-permanently-blocked-from-deploying-national-guard-on-portland-oregon-federal-judge/