Judge Blocks California National Guard Deployment to Oregon

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, found no legal basis for the Trump administration to bring National Guard members from California, or any state, to Portland.

Following a whirlwind weekend of court filings, political accusations and a late-night hearing, a federal judge in Oregon on Sunday barred the Trump administration from immediately sending any National Guard troops to Portland.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued the temporary restraining order shortly before 8:30 p.m. PDT Sunday following a brief telephone hearing. The TRO was Immergut's second in as many days related to President Donald Trump's plans to send federalized troops to what he called "war-ravaged" Portland, Oregon.

Immergut had already temporarily stopped the federal government from deploying members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland, finding conditions on the ground did not match the president's claims that the city is "burning to the ground" at the hands of "insurrectionists."

Oregon leaders hailed the ruling from Immergut, whom Trump appointed in 2019, but early Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that federal officials had alerted military officials in the Golden State that 300 Los Angeles-based National Guard members were on their way to Portland without his consent.

"This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power," Newsom said in a prepared statement. "The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words—ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents."

Later in the day, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on social media site X that he had authorized the deployment of National Guard members to other states, including Oregon and Illinois.

"You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let [the] Texas Guard do it," Abbott wrote.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters late Sunday afternoon that his office would join the state of Oregon and the city of Portland in asking Immergut for a second temporary order, this one blocking the arrival of National Guard troops from any state.

Trump is "acting as if he has carte blanche to send the National Guard anywhere in the country," Bonta said. "He does not."

During Sunday night's TRO hearing, Immergut quizzed U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton about the rationale for sending California troops to Oregon in the wake of her order Saturday.

“You’re an officer of the court,” she told him, according to The Oregonian. “Do you believe this is an appropriate way to deal with a judge’s order that you disagree with?”

Hamilton argued that California could not challenge the National Guard's move north because troops in Los Angeles were already under federal control.

“Mr. Hamilton, you are missing the point,” Immergut responded, according to The Oregonian.

In addition to granting the second TRO, Immergut declined the federal government's request to stay her order pending an appeal. The U.S. Department of Justice has already appealed her initial TRO to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Immergut's first TRO is set to expire Oct. 18, the second on Oct. 19.
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California's petition to the Oregon court on Sunday marked the state's 42nd lawsuit filed against the Trump administration in the last 36 weeks, according to Bonta's office.