Court Says Oregon National Guard Can Be Federalized but not Deployed

A panel of federal appeals court judges in Oregon on Oct. 8 ruled that President Donald Trump may retain federal control of the Oregon National Guard but may not deploy these troops until court proceedings have been given time to move forward.

The administration has attempted to deploy National Guard members in Portland, Oregon, which Trump said is “war-ravaged.” National Guard troops have already been federalized and deployed in Los Angeles and Washington to protect federal property and personnel.

On Oct. 4, Judge Karin J. Immergut of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon temporarily blocked implementation of a memorandum by War Secretary Pete Hegseth that authorized the federalization and deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard members.

Immergut later expanded the Oct. 4 order to ban deployment of the California National Guard in Oregon for a similar purpose.

On Oct. 8, a three-judge panel whittled down the scope of Immergut’s restraining order, allowing it to remain partially intact.

In their brief order, the judges ruled that the status quo before Immergut’s ruling—when the Oregon National Guard had been federalized but not deployed—could best be maintained by permitting the continued federalization of the National Guard but blocking its deployment to Portland or elsewhere in Oregon.

“Prior to the October 4 temporary restraining order, Oregon National Guard members had been federalized but not deployed,” the judges wrote. “An administrative stay of the October 4 temporary restraining order will maintain the federalization of Oregon National Guard members, because that order prohibits implementation of the memorandum.”

The judges said the administrative stay was to “minimize harm while an appellate court deliberates.” They also noted that the order does not “constitute in any way a decision as to the merits of the motion for a stay pending appeal.”

“In the circumstances here, granting an administrative stay will best preserve the status quo,” they wrote.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement posted on X, “Today’s order doesn’t change anything on the ground … That means no unnecessary federal escalation—and that’s a win for Oregonians who want calm, not conflict in our communities.”

The Ninth Circuit judges are scheduled to hear arguments on Thursday morning.

The restraining order on troop deployments will remain in effect until Oct. 19, pending further direction from the courts.

A federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in southwest Portland has been at the center of tensions between the state and federal government over the last several months amid protests, sometimes violent, against federal officers working out of the facility.

Portland police leaders have said that the situation outside the ICE facility is under control. Trump has said the city of Portland is suffering from months of violent unrest near the immigration facility and requires federal assistance.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day wrote in an Oct. 5 op-ed for OregonLive, “Portland is 145 square miles, yet one city block has drawn outsized attention in news cycles.”

He pushed back on accusations from the Trump administration alleging that Portland police have not been doing enough to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and address public disorder, amid other criticisms of the local police.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during an Oct. 3 press briefing that federal aid to the city could be suspended, citing a policy that restricts funding if local authorities refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

“Just because officers are not seen wearing tactical gear lining up before crowds does not mean we are not responding,” Day wrote. “In fact, research shows that such tactics often escalate crowd behavior.”

The Department of Homeland Security has said that groups linked to Antifa—recently designated by Trump as a domestic terrorist organization—have sought to dox federal officers stationed at the facility.

Immergut, in her Oct. 4 ruling that blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland, noted America’s “longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs.”

The case joins a similar legal challenge by California over Trump’s use of its National Guard to protect ICE buildings in Los Angeles, which is also pending with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That case is scheduled to be heard on Oct. 10.

An appeals court stayed a lower court ruling that limited the president’s use of the military in Los Angeles until it had time to fully review the case.