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The Trump administration has asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s decision permanently blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.
The emergency appeal, filed Sunday, challenges a November 7 ruling by US District Court Judge Karin Immergut, who found after a three-day trial that President Trump likely violated Title 10 section 12406. That law allows a president to federalize the National Guard under limited circumstances, including invasion, rebellion or when federal laws cannot be executed.
Trump’s attorneys argued that the president acted within the law when he federalized Guard units to protect the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland. They disputed Immergut’s conclusion that the statutory requirements were not met. According to the administration, the ICE site has experienced continuous “unlawful” protests since June 7, operating “24 hours per day, seven days a week.”
At trial, both sides debated whether the prolonged demonstrations met the legal threshold for domestic military deployment. Portland and the state of Oregon filed suit in September to stop the action.
In a 106-page opinion, Immergut agreed with the city and state, writing that although the president is granted “great deference,” he had not demonstrated that the conditions required for federalizing the Guard had been satisfied. President Trump’s legal team responded that the months of unrest had hindered federal law enforcement agencies from performing normal duties. The administration maintained that troops were necessary to protect federal personnel and property in a city Trump has described as “war-ravaged.”
Immergut issued two temporary restraining orders in early October, blocking Guard activation while the case proceeded. The first prohibited the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard members. A second order, issued the next day, barred the president from deploying Guard members from any state after he sought to send California troops instead.
The Ninth Circuit has already imposed its own ban on troop deployment while the court considers the appeal. A final decision will come after an en banc vote.
“The district court’s ruling made it clear that this administration must be accountable to the truth and to the rule of law,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield told the Associated Press. “We will keep defending Oregon values and standing up for our state’s authority to make decisions grounded in evidence and common sense.”