California officials on Sunday hailed a federal court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s order to send hundreds of the deployment of California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.
President Donald Trump ordered the California soldiers to replace troops from the Oregon National Guard after the same judge stopped that deployment.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee in 2019 during his first term, said the California deployment order attempted to “circumvent” her rejection Saturday of the administration’s argument that protests against federal immigration enforcement in Portland and resulting crime are out of control and require a federal response.
“How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention of the (temporary restraining order) that I issued yesterday?” she asked an attorney from the U.S. Justice Department.
According to Immergut, Trump’s deployment order violated federal law and the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, which splits power between federal and state governments.
Her ruling also prohibits ordering troops to Oregon from any other state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who challenged Trump’s order in court, hailed the ruling.
“The rule of law has prevailed — and California’s National Guard will soon be heading home. This ruling is more than a legal victory, it’s a victory for American democracy itself,” Newsom said in a statement. “Donald Trump tried to turn our soldiers into instruments of his political will. While our fight continues, tonight the rule of law said ‘hell no.'”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement, “The facts haven’t changed: President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement. We expect to be vindicated by a higher court.”
In June, Trump ordered California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to protect federal facilities after violence occurred in response to the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Newsom and LA Democrats including Mayor Karen Bass criticized the troop deployment as unnecessary and possibly provoking more protests, and the state has challenged the LA deployment in court.
The troops ordered to Portland were part of that Los Angeles contingent.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement, “The President’s move to deploy the National Guard of one state over the objections of its Governor to another state over the objections of a second Governor is well outside of the norms or practices of any President in recent history. But this President is determined to take as much power as the courts will give him. This fight isn’t over, but today’s rebuke of the President’s illegal actions is a step in the right direction.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said before Sunday’s ruling approximately 200 federalized California National Guard soldiers were being reassigned from duty in the LA area to Portland. Newsom’s office totaled the number of troops at around 300.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Sunday approximately 100 California troops had already arrived in Oregon, and more were en route.
Trump ordered Oregon’s guard troops to Portland on Sept. 28 to help local law enforcement with what he has called a serious crime wave.
Local and state officials disputed that assessment, and on Saturday the judge agreed. Immergut said Portland has experienced relatively minor street protests without an urgent need for troop support.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement — we expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said over the weekend, according to published reports.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the court ruling was “one of the most egregious and thunderous violations of constitutional order we have ever seen” and noted the Portland Police Department’s refusal to assist immigration agents.
“A district court judge has no conceivable authority, whatsoever, to restrict the President and Commander-in-Chief from dispatching members of the US military to defend federal lives and property,” Miller posted on X.
“There is no legal distinction between a state volunteering guardsmen to guard the border and volunteering guardsmen to guard a federal immigration facility,” he added. “Either we have a federal government, a supremacy clause, and a nation, or we don’t.”
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt disputed the blocks of the Oregon and California National Guard deployments.
“The president is using his authority as commander in chief under U.S. Code 12406, which clearly states that the president has the right to call up the National Guard in cases where he deems it’s appropriate,” Leavitt said. “In Portland, Oregon, for more than 100 nights … the ICE facility has been really under siege by these anarchists outside. They have been disrespecting law enforcement, they’ve been inciting violence. We saw, again, a guillotine rolled out in front of this federal building, and so the president wants to ensure that our federal building and our assets are protected.”
The request to block the troop deployment to Oregon is available on the California attorney general’s website.
