US District Judge Karin Immergut held an emergency hearing on Sunday evening after President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. This move came despite a previous order from the judge that halted the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland.
Last weekend, President Trump announced plans to send troops to Portland and other cities with Democratic leadership. He stated this was intended to protect ICE agents from groups he described as “Antifa terrorists and other radical far-left groups.” On Truth Social, Trump said: “At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Following this announcement, Oregon filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to block the troop deployments. Judge Immergut issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on Saturday that prevented National Guard troops from being sent into Oregon. The TRO is set to expire on October 18.
Judge Immergut criticized Trump’s decision during her ruling and expressed concern that using such justification for troop deployment could lead the country toward a constitutional crisis.
On Sunday, President Trump called up hundreds of California National Guard members for deployment in Portland in what appeared to be an attempt to bypass the existing court order blocking Oregon’s own National Guard involvement. Reports indicated that up to 400 Texas National Guard troops were also being activated for possible deployment not only in Oregon but also in Illinois and other states where anti-ICE protests had become violent.
California joined Oregon’s legal efforts by requesting a second TRO aimed at blocking these new deployments. During Sunday night’s emergency hearing, Judge Immergut agreed with arguments presented by both states and granted their motion.
According to Kyle Cheney: “Immergut has *granted* Oregon and California’s motion to block the new call-up of Guard troops to Portland. She says this effort to bring CA and TX troops to Oregon is in ‘direct contravention’ of her original order.”
Margot Cleveland reported further details about the hearing: “Plaintiff: Appropriate to issue a second order with broader scope…so we want to prohibit stay federalized members of any national guards of any state or district of columbia. Judge: That’s what I will do…”
The result is that all new troop deployments—whether from California or Texas—to Oregon have been blocked pending further legal review.
