A federal judge in Oregon on Saturday issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump from deploying 200 National Guard troops to Portland. The decision comes after Trump announced the deployment to protect what he described as a “war-ravaged” city, while a lawsuit challenging the move proceeds in court.The ruling by US District Judge Karin Immergut in Portland marks a setback for Trump, as he attempts to deploy military forces to cities he characterizes as “lawless,” despite opposition from their Democratic officials.In her ruling, Immergut stated that a trial court would likely side with the state’s argument that the president overstepped his constitutional authority by deploying federal troops for local matters, potentially violating the Tenth Amendment.Immergut questioned how much weight should be given to Trump’s social media descriptions of Portland and appeared doubtful about treating those posts as an official or legally binding assessment.“Really? A social media post is going to count as a presidential determination that you can send the National Guard to cities?” she was quoted as saying by Reuters. “I mean, is that really what I should be relying on as his determination?”In her order issued on Saturday, Immergut, a Trump appointee, noted that the temporary restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days, expiring on October 18.Immergut found that the timing of the president’s order failed to meet the legal standard for deploying the National Guard, noting that the state presented “substantial evidence that the protests at the Portland ICE facility were not significantly violent or disruptive in the days, or even weeks, leading up to the president’s directive.”Democratic Oregon attorney general Dan Rayfield’s office filed the lawsuit on September 28, a day after Trump announced plans to deploy troops to Portland to guard federal immigration facilities from what he called “domestic terrorists.” While Trump described Portland as “war-ravaged,” Oregon officials countered that recent protests in the city were “small and sedate,” noting just 25 arrests in mid-June and none in the three-and-a-half months since June 19.“The president’s perception of what is happening in Portland is not the reality on the ground,” said Caroline Turco, representing Portland. “The president’s perception is that it is World War Two out here. The reality is that this is a beautiful city with a sophisticated police force that can handle the situation.”Trump has also authorized the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard members to “protect federal officers and assets” in Chicago on Saturday, according to the White House. The move followed protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near the city that resulted in more than a dozen arrests on Friday.The White House also accused state and local officials, including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, of failing to address what it called “ongoing violent riots and lawlessness.”
