Federal judge rules Trump’s Portland National Guard deployment unconstitutional in permanent injunction

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, was unconstitutional.

On Sunday, US District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, temporarily extended an order blocking the administration from deploying troops to The Rose City, saying the government failed to justify the move.

In the 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.

It followed a three-day trial over whether protests at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland warranted use of the military domestically under federal law.

The administration said the troops were needed to protect federal personnel and property.

Immergut said in the ruling 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” because he wasn’t able to demonstrate there was a rebellion or threat of rebellion that couldn’t be enforced without the military.

The judge added that “even giving great deference to the President’s determination, the President did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard.”

I have been following the activities in Portland for several months now.

There is a federal building that is used to detain ICE arrested illegal aliens. There have been continuous protests there for at least four months. The protesters broke lots of glass, including the main entrance doors. There is a video of the damage in process with a protester wielding a stop sign as the breaking tool. All the windows were boarded up at a cost said to be $250,000 or so.

Across from the Federal building is a fairly large apartment building. The noise and commotion all night keeps the apartment dwellers awake. Tear gas fumes used to clear the streets of protesters to permit ICE access into and out of the building permeated the apartment windows. Residents repeatedly called 911 but the police did not come. The Portland police were ordered not to make any action that would in any way assist ICE.

The protesters set up camp on near by sidewalks. The cops came and made them leave. They left and returned in a few hours to a location just a few feet from where they were before.

The heat, heavy heat was applied to the police and at last they actually came. Not to aid ICE or in any way effect the in process protests but to deal with infractions of lots and lots of Portland city law. The main protester HQ tent complex was forcibly removed by the cops. The incident contrary to months of action previously, was resisted. There were all kinds of supplies, a refrigerator, a gas and a charcoal grill and...... a fire plug. The justification the cops used to invade and capture the camp was that it was located literally on a clearly visible fire plug.

What this boils down to is that the anti Ice activities in Portland was mostly limited to a two or three block area around the Federal building. Elsewhere in Portland ICE was apparently going about it’s business finding and arresting illegals. The area in question was in fact finally policed and cleared of all the protester encampments. The actual protests at the federal building were reduced to mostly paid diehards. The overall situation was significantly different than previously when the President ordered in the National Guard.

So from my limited view of a limited but somewhat educated view, The problem requiring the National Guard actually no longer exists as it once did. Thus the ruling by a Trump appointed judge. The ruling is Win/Win Portland doesn’t get the guard and the President doesn’t need to send them to do nothing.

BTW. At all times when required, ICE officers left their fenced in location and took to the streets easily driving the protesters away to permit the ingress required. I have watched literally hours of videos and ICE was always easily in control. And for the record, from my point of view, at least half and maybe three quarters of the present protesters were there to take videos proving they were there.

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