A federal judge appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump has permanently blocked the 47th president from deploying the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) there.
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut, who last month issued a preliminary injunction blocking the president’s troop order, ruled Friday that Trump exceeded his authority by federalizing Oregon National Guard troops.
President Trump appointed Judge Immergut to the federal bench in 2018, during his first term.
The permanent ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the states of Oregon and California and the city of Portland.
Trump administration lawyers had argued that the often violent protests outside the ICE building disrupted agents trying to control immigration and represented a rebellion against the United States of America.
THE New York Times reported:
In her final 106-page ruling, Judge Immergut rejected arguments by government lawyers that protests at the ICE building made it impossible for federal agents to conduct immigration checks, represented rebellion or raised a threat of rebellion.
“The evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were opposed by the Governor of Oregon and were not requested by federal officials charged with protecting the ICE building, exceeded the President’s authority,” she wrote.
The judge also took issue with the president’s assertion that Antifa, at least in Portland, is an organized group working against the U.S. government, also saying the ICE regional director’s testimony about the damage to the building and the disruptive nature of the protests was not credible.
How disruptive or violent the protests are often depends on which media outlets cover the nightly demonstrations, which began in early June after the administration cracked down and arrested criminal illegal aliens.
As Breitbart News reported late last month, unruly crowds and fights can occur at the site, particularly when counter-protesters show up.
Other clashes resulted in the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and tear gas bombs.
In late September, President Trump announced the need to deploy guard troops to Portland, but Oregon’s Democratic governor, Tina Kotek, refused to activate the requested 200 troops. The Trump administration responded by federalizing the troops.
According to the Times blanket:
Under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, a president can only use the National Guard on U.S. soil in three circumstances: a foreign invasion; rebellion or threat of rebellion; or if the laws of the nation cannot be enforced with existing resources. During a three-day trial late last month, administration lawyers argued that the latter two conditions applied in Oregon.
In her final decision, Judge Immergut disagreed on both counts.
Federal lawyers have already said that if Judge Immergut rules against them, they will appeal to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The administration filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over a similar National Guard case involving Illinois.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times bestseller House of secrets and nine other mystery novels and non-fiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com to find out more.
