U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a permanent injunction on November 7 blocking the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, concluding that President Donald Trump exceeded his constitutional authority when he federalized hundreds of National Guard members in response to immigration protests.

Judge Immergut—who was appointed by Trump during his first term—found that the president “did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard” under federal statute 10 U.S.C. § 12406. 

On September 27, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “provide all necessary Troops to protect war-ravaged Portland” and ICE facilities “under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists”. The following day, Secretary Hegseth issued a memorandum federalizing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard for deployment to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland where protests had been ongoing since June.​​

Governor Tina Kotek objected to the federalization, but the administration proceeded anyway. Within hours, the State of Oregon and City of Portland filed suit, later joined by the State of California after the administration redirected California National Guard troops to Portland and attempted to mobilize Texas National Guard members as well.

After hearing testimony from eight witnesses over three days—including Portland Police Bureau commanders, Oregon State Police officials, Federal Protective Service directors, and ICE personnel—Judge Immergut made extensive factual findings that contradicted the administration’s characterization of events.​

The court found that while violent protests did occur in mid-June, they “quickly abated due to the efforts of civil law enforcement officers”. By September, protests outside the Portland ICE facility had become “predominately peaceful, with only isolated and sporadic instances of relatively low-level violence, largely between protesters and counter-protesters.”

Notably, the court found that crowd sizes had dramatically decreased from a peak of 450 protesters on June 12 to typically 15-30 people by late summer. In the week before the National Guard callout, protests reached their lowest point, with as few as seven protesters on some days. The court also determined there was no organized group coordinating protest activity and that the vast majority of protesters were peaceful and unarmed.​

The ruling revealed inconsistencies in federal reporting. The Trump administration initially claimed nearly 25 percent of Federal Protective Service capacity had been redirected to Portland, but corrected court filings showed only 86 officers had been deployed, not the 115 originally stated.

Judge Immergut ruled that President Trump lacked authority to federalize the National Guard under two key provisions of federal law. First, she found no “rebellion or danger of a rebellion” as required by 10 U.S.C. § 12406(2). The court noted that protesters were not organized, were rarely armed, and had no collective purpose to overtake government authority.​​

Second, the court concluded the president was not “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States” as required by Section 12406(3). Federal and local law enforcement had successfully managed the protests for months without National Guard assistance.​​

The ruling also found the deployments violated the Tenth Amendment, which reserves to states any powers not expressly delegated to the federal government. Judge Immergut wrote that the unlawful federalization “commandeered these state officers to enforce a federal law enforcement program” and constituted an intrusion on Oregon’s sovereignty.

In her decision, Judge Immergut acknowledged the broader implications, writing: “The ‘precise standard’ to demarcate the line past which conditions would satisfy the statutory standard to deploy the military in the streets of American cities is ultimately a question for a higher court to decide”. She emphasized that while the ruling blocks this specific deployment, it does not prevent the president from deploying the National Guard to Oregon if future conditions justify intervention.

The permanent injunction took effect immediately, though it allows National Guard members to remain under federal control for 14 days. Judge Immergut permanently enjoined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security from deploying federalized National Guard members to Oregon.

The Trump administration has not issued an immediate response but is expected to appeal the decision.

The case also revealed that nine Oregon National Guard members remained deployed at the ICE facility for several hours after Judge Immergut’s initial temporary restraining order was issued on October 4, which the court noted it was “deeply troubled” by. While no contempt finding was issued, the court retained jurisdiction over the potential violation.