Federal Judge in Oregon Bars Trump from Deploying the National Guard to Portland

On Friday, November 7, a federal judge in Oregon barred Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, ruling that the administration had failed to present evidence of large-scale violence that would justify federal intervention.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, herself a Trump appointee, issued a final ruling in the case, noting that protests outside the ICE headquarters had been “mostly peaceful, with only rare and minor outbreaks of violence.”

Earlier in the week, Immergut had already frozen the president’s order, blocking the deployment of the National Guard to Portland until Friday after finding “no credible evidence” that the situation in the city had spiralled out of control before federal involvement last autumn.

In her final decision, the judge wrote that most clashes occurred between demonstrators and their counter-protesters, rather than between protesters and federal agents. She acknowledged that she “lacks the authority to interfere with the president’s performance of his official duties,” but imposed a binding prohibition on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who are now barred from sending National Guard troops to Oregon.

The ruling marks the latest chapter in protracted legal battles in Portland, Chicago, and other U.S. cities where the Trump administration has sought to deploy federal forces to quell protests.

The ICE building in southwest Portland has remained a focal point of protest activity since June, when city police first declared one of the gatherings a riot. In September, the city of Portland and the state of Oregon filed suit against the Trump administration after the president ordered the Pentagon to federalize units of the state’s National Guard.

Earlier, Immergut had issued a temporary order blocking the deployment of the National Guard to Oregon, a decision the administration appealed.

In the course of the case, the judge heard three days of testimony from police officers and officials describing conditions around the ICE facility. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield hailed the ruling as “a tremendous victory.”

“The court is forcing this administration to answer to the law and to the facts,” he said. “From the outset, we have asked for only one thing: that law enforcement be grounded in reality, not in political whims. Today’s ruling defends that principle.”