A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops from Texas and California to Portland, Oregon.
The decision late on Sunday comes after the same court denied Trump’s attempt to deploy Oregon’s own National Guard members to Portland.
Portland is the latest Democratic-led city targeted as part of the president’s attempt to address what he says is out-of-control crime, amid protests over his administration’s immigration enforcement.
Trump has also authorised the deployment of National Guard troops from other states to Chicago, Illinois.
The ruling on Sunday from US District Judge Karin Immergut came shortly after the Pentagon confirmed 200 members of the California National Guard had been reassigned to Portland to “support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties”.
California and Oregon had sought a temporary restraining order against the deployment.
Judge Immergut, who was appointed by Trump, said there was no evidence that recent protests in the city made the presence of federalised National Guard troops necessary.
During Sunday’s emergency hearing, she pressed lawyers from the federal government on how the deployment of troops from other states was not simply a way to circumvent her earlier decision denying the deployment of Oregon’s National Guard.
In that decision, she said the use of the military to quell unrest without Oregon’s consent risked the sovereignty of that state and others, and inflamed tensions in the city of Portland.
Credit: bbc.com
