On Wednesday, the Trump administration is set to clash with Oregon state authorities in court regarding the president’s authority to federalize National Guard personnel and send them to Portland. President Donald Trump has characterized Portland as “war ravaged” and requiring military backup.
Judge Karin Immergut is slated to oversee the trial, which is anticipated to continue for the duration of the week.
The trial occurs as the administration has encountered a series of setbacks in Oregon, where it has sought to deploy 200 National Guard soldiers to bolster security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and other federal officers. These efforts have been thwarted by repeated court rulings.
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Immergut, a Trump appointee, previously issued two orders preventing Trump from deploying both in-state and out-of-state troops. Although the 9th Circuit briefly sided with Trump on appeal, it subsequently reversed its decision this week.
All orders pertaining to Oregon in both the lower court and the 9th Circuit have been issued on an emergency basis. Immergut’s three-day trial is expected to yield a more permanent ruling, although an appeal by either party is anticipated promptly.
Trump has faced resistance in deploying National Guard soldiers in various Democratic-led cities, where his administration asserts that illegal immigration and street crime are widespread.
In legal filings submitted before the trial, DOJ lawyers asserted that the deployment to Portland was “amply justified.”
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“In the weeks and months prior to the President’s decision, agitators engaged in assaults against federal officers and inflicted damage on federal property through numerous means, spray-painted violent threats, blockaded the vehicle entrance to the Portland ICE facility, trapped officers within their vehicles, pursued them upon their attempts to leave the facility, threatened them at the facility, harassed them at their residences, disclosed their personal information online, and issued death threats against them on social media,” the DOJ lawyers stated.
They further noted that law enforcement officers typically assigned to immigration-related duties had been redirected to manage the local unrest, which they argued diverted them from their regular responsibilities.
“The record provides extensive evidence of the [Portland Police Bureau] failing to offer assistance when requested by federal officials,” they added.
Meanwhile, state lawyers contended that Congress’ statutes governing National Guard deployment authorize the president to federalize the reserved troops against the wishes of state governors only as a last resort.
“The routine challenges of governance cannot justify the extraordinary measure employed by the Defendants in this case,” Oregon’s lawyers argued.
Additionally, a related case pending before the Supreme Court adds complexity. The high court is considering whether to hear Trump’s National Guard deployment case in Chicago, which could have significant implications for the president’s similar legal battles in other states, including Oregon and California.
Fox News’ Lee Ross contributed to this report.
