Appeals Court Allows Trump to Deploy Troops to Oregon
President Donald Trump can send National Guard troops to Oregon presumably to protect a Portland ICE facility from violent protestors, an appeals court ruled on Monday afternoon, giving the president’s administration a key legal victory in what it says is its push to crack down on crime and illegal immigration in major cities.
The ruling was made in a federal appeals court in San Francisco, with two Trump-appointed judges siding with the administration, while a judge appointed by Bill Clinton sided against it. Monday’s ruling allows the president to send 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, overriding a federal court ruling earlier this month that temporarily blocked the administration from doing so.
The Trump Administration had argued it was allowed by the U.S. Constitution to use the National Guard when “rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States” was imminent. The court agreed with the administration’s interpretation.
“After considering the record at this preliminary stage, we conclude that it is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority… which authorizes the federalization of the National Guard when ‘the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,” the ruling said.
It continued: The evidence the president relied on reflects a “colorable assessment of the facts and law within a ‘range of honest judgement.’”
While “many” protests against ICE agents have been “peaceful,” the judges wrote, they also outlined several recent examples were protests turned violent. One example in particular, the judges wrote, was the shooting of two detainees at an ICE facility in Dallas last month, where the shooter had been targeting federal agents.
The Trump Administration pushed to send troops from both California and Oregon to Portland at the end of September. But those plans were thwarted by a federal judge who granted a temporary restraining order that was sought by both the Oregon and California state governments, as well as the city of Portland.
Later in Monday’s ruling, the judges wrote the president’s “measured response” of “only 200 Guardsmen” and the “limited nature of the federalization — for just 60 days — bolsters [their] conclusion” to side with Trump.
It will be worth watching to see if Trump is able to gain similar legal victories in the weeks ahead, as Democratic leaders like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have sued his administration, aiming to block the deployment of troops, as well as ICE and Border Patrol agents.
Austin American-Statesman reporter Bayliss Wagner appeared to be the first reporter to share the breaking news on X. You can read the full 93-page ruling by clicking here.
