Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut paused on Sunday President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard into Portland, Oregon, extending the hold until at least Friday.
Immergut filed a 16-page order stating that, pending a final opinion resolving the state’s request to block the deployment, they are granted a preliminary injunction which will remain in place until 5 p.m. local time Friday. The decision follows a three-day trial where the judge heard arguments from the state and the Department of Justice (DOJ), along with testimony from law enforcement officials.
“This Court further STAYS IN PART this preliminary injunction to the extent that it enjoins the federalization of any State’s National Guard until this Court issues its final opinion on the merits,” the order states.
The trial over the National Guard’s deployment began Wednesday, with both sides presenting opening arguments and Cmdr. Franz Schoening of the Portland Police Bureau taking the stand as the first witness. Schoening testified that officers on the ground weren’t “seeing criminal conduct or violent behavior” during protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
During cross-examination, however, a DOJ lawyer pressed Schoening on the lack of arrests by local law enforcement during the June protests, citing a June 12 Incident Commander’s summary that described a chaotic scene. Despite protesters attempting to damage the building, the lawyer noted that no arrests were made until a fire was set.
Notably, in Immergut’s order, the judge wrote under the likelihood of success for the case that the Trump administration’s federalization and deployment of the National Guard to protect Portland’s ICE facility “extend[ed] beyond delegated statutory authority” under Title 10, Section 12406, and violated the Tenth Amendment.
The filing further stated that Trump’s invocation of Section 12406 was “likely not made ‘in the face of the emergency and directly related to the quelling of the disorder or the prevention of its continuance.’”
Immergut noted while there was a “high watermark of violence and unlawful activity” outside the ICE building for “a few days in June,” protests between June and September “were generally uneventful with occasional interference to federal personnel and property.”
“Although there were sporadic instances of unlawful behavior, federal law enforcement, along with local law enforcement, were able to manage the situation and arrest and prosecute those responsible for criminal conduct.”
Over the three-day trial, 750 exhibits, some involving law enforcement’s paperwork stemming back from June, were presented to the judge, with post-trial briefings filed over the weekend, according to Immergut’s order. The judge noted that the court asked both parties “whether they would agree to maintain the status quo for a week from the conclusion of trial,” allowing the National Guard to remain federalized but not deployed.
“Defendants declined,” Immergut stated. “Without offering any legal support, Defendants argue that this Court may no longer first decide whether a preliminary injunction is warranted, while this Court continues to review the entire trial record to determine whether Plaintiffs have satisfied their ultimate burden of proving their two claims on the merits. Defendants’ argument is without merit.”
The National Guard’s legal limbo comes after an order previously filed Oct. 4 sought to block the National Guard from entering the city. Judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted Tuesday to rehear the case after a previous Oct. 20 order ruled Trump “likely” acted within proper legal boundaries.
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