Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Send Out-of-State Troops to Oregon
A federal judge in Oregon accused the Trump administration of directly defying her court order Sunday night after the White House continued mobilizing National Guard troops from multiple states for deployment in Democratic-led cities.
Judge Karin Immergut of the U.S. District Court in Oregon, who is herself a Trump appointee, had issued a restraining order just a day earlier, blocking the federal government from deploying out-of-state Guard members to Oregon. Yet within 24 hours, the administration began rerouting hundreds of troops from California and Texas, prompting an emergency hearing and an expansion of the judge’s order.
Immergut’s revised ruling now bars “the relocation, federalization, or deployment of members of the National Guard of any state or the District of Columbia in the state of Oregon.” During the hearing, she told Justice Department lawyers that the president’s actions were “in direct contravention” of her directive.
The president’s efforts to tap Guard units from Texas, California, and elsewhere have triggered chaos among governors and the courts alike. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Sunday that up to 400 Texas National Guard members were being prepared for “federal protection missions” in Portland, Chicago, and other cities.
In Illinois, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker condemned the move outright. “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s invasion,” he said.
“It started with federal agents. It will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, voiced full support on social media, saying his state’s Guard could out-train any in the nation.
“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let the Texas Guard do it. No Guard can match the training, skill, and expertise of the Texas National Guard.”
The president justified the deployments as a response to protests at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Portland and suburban Chicago. But Judge Immergut’s Saturday order noted that Portland’s demonstrations were “not significantly violent or disruptive,” adding that the president appeared to have exceeded his constitutional authority.
The weekend’s legal scramble followed a separate decision to redirect 200 California National Guard members, previously federalized for duty in Los Angeles, to Oregon.
“I am certainly troubled by now hearing that both California and Texas are being sent to Oregon, which does appear to be in direct contradiction of my order,” Immergut said.
That move, criticized as an end-run around the court’s ban, drew sharp objections from both Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon.
“The rule of law has prevailed — and California’s National Guard will be heading home,” Newsom said after the court reaffirmed its injunction Sunday night.
“President Trump’s actions are an effort to occupy and incite cities and states that don’t share his politics,” Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement, “and I believe that we should expect him to continue to push the limits of his authority.”
“This is a continuation and escalation of the President’s dangerous, un-American misuse of states’ National Guard members and hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
Oregon’s attorney general, Dan Rayfield, warned that the situation still fell far short of any condition justifying federal military intervention.
“What was unlawful yesterday is unlawful today,” he said.
The controversy spotlights a murky legal question: can the president federalize one state’s National Guard and send those troops into another state that objects?
Elizabeth Goitein, a national security law expert at NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice, said the California troops were technically part of the federal armed forces once “federalized.” Still, she added that Judge Immergut’s reasoning likely rendered such a deployment unlawful.
The relevant statute, Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, allows the president to take control of state Guards only under specific conditions, which Immergut found were “not present in Portland.”
Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he could not recall another instance where one state’s National Guard had been sent into another state over both governors’ objections.
Despite the administration’s insistence that Portland was “under siege,” Immergut’s order cited local police reports describing protests as small and largely peaceful. On Sunday morning, the city’s streets were calm — marathon runners, brunch lines, and dog walkers replaced the chaotic imagery depicted by the White House.
Outside the ICE facility that prompted the federal response, roughly 70 protesters gathered peacefully, barbecuing and handing out bottled water. “There are more people filming each other than rabble-rousers,” said Alex Knots, 58, who joined the demonstration.
Still, local officials fear that continued federal intervention could inflame tensions. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson warned that “this is an aggressive approach trying to inflame a situation that has otherwise been peaceful.”
In recent days, federal agents at the ICE facility escalated crowd control tactics, using tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and pepper balls to disperse demonstrators several blocks from the building.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused the president of abusing his powers for political theater:
“It’s our National Guard — not Trump’s Royal Guard, as he seems to think.”
Both Oregon and California have secured temporary relief in court, but Guard deployments to Illinois and other states remained pending. With multiple lawsuits and appeals underway, the clash over presidential authority and the boundaries of federal power appears to be far from over.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
