U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, citing insufficient justification for the federalization.
U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut has extended an order that prevents the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. The judge’s decision, made on Sunday, stems from the government’s failure to provide adequate justification for the federalization of these troops.
In her order, Immergut “preliminarily enjoins Defendant Secretary of Defense Hegseth from implementing” the memorandums that authorized the deployment of National Guard members from Oregon, Texas, and California to Portland. This injunction will remain in effect until the court issues a final ruling on the matter, which is expected by Friday, November 7, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT.
Immergut noted that the court had recently conducted a trial that included three days of testimony and argument, during which more than 750 exhibits were reviewed. She emphasized the importance of a thorough examination of the evidence before reaching a final decision, stating, “the interest of justice requires that this Court complete a thorough review of the exhibits and trial transcripts.”
In her assessment of the Trump administration’s actions, Immergut found the government’s justification for the deployment lacking. She indicated that there was no credible evidence to support claims that protests in Portland had escalated to a level that warranted federal intervention. “Based on the trial testimony, this Court finds no credible evidence that during the approximately two months before the President’s federalization order, protests grew out of control or involved more than isolated and sporadic instances of violent conduct that resulted in no serious injuries to federal personnel,” she wrote.
Furthermore, Immergut concluded that President Trump likely did not have a valid basis to invoke federal authority under either Section 12406(3) or Section 12406(2) to deploy the National Guard to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland. She highlighted the testimony from local law enforcement officials, who provided firsthand accounts of the demonstrations, as critical to her determination that the protests did not constitute a rebellion.
“Based on trial testimony that this Court found credible, particularly the testimony of Portland Police Bureau command staff, who work in Portland and have first-hand knowledge of the crowds at the ICE building from June to the present, the protests in Portland at the time of the National Guard call outs are likely not a ‘rebellion,’ and likely do not pose a danger of rebellion,” she stated.
In addition to questioning the justification for the deployment, Immergut asserted that the administration’s actions likely violated statutory limits and constitutional protections. She wrote, “Defendants’ federalization and deployment of the National Guard in response to protests outside a single federal building in Portland, Oregon, extended beyond delegated statutory authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and violated the Tenth Amendment.” This assertion underscores the potential infringement on state sovereignty, which she described as “an injury to Oregon’s sovereignty under the Constitution, and Oregon’s equal sovereignty among the States.”
As the case progresses, Immergut has indicated that she will issue her final opinion on the merits by the specified deadline. Until that time, the Oregon National Guard may remain federalized but will not be deployed.
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