WASHINGTON D.C. – A federal judge on Friday issued an order permanently blocking President Donald Trump from deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Portland against the wishes of state and local leaders.

On Friday, following an expedited three-day trial and a week of deliberation, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut issued her 100-page final decision in favor of the state of Oregon, the city of Portland and the state of California in their suit against Trump and the federal government.

Immergut, a Trump appointee, found that Trump’s justification for the attempted late September deployment — that protests outside of a Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility since June constituted a “rebellion” against the federal government and significantly impeded its functions — is unfounded.

“[A]fter a three-day trial that included the testimony of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials and hundreds of exhibits describing protest activity outside the Portland ICE building, the evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were objected to by Oregon’s governor and not requested by the federal officials in charge of protection of the ICE building, exceeded the president’s authority,” she wrote.

The 400 Oregon and California guard troops waiting at two military camps in Oregon since early October remain federalized but cannot be deployed in Oregon. Oregon’s troops will remain federalized for at least 14 more days, which “preserves the status quo,” Immergut wrote.

Federalization of California troops since June was supposed to end in November, but on Oct. 16, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth extended the federalization through Feb. 2, 2026. Lawyers for California argue this was specifically so Trump could deploy them on the streets of Portland.

The state of California joined Oregon and the city of Portland in the lawsuit after the Trump administration in early October sent troops from California to Oregon to get around Immergut’s initial order blocking federalization of the Oregon National Guard.

Lawyers for the federal government have said they will appeal any decision Immergut made against them to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“This ruling, now the fourth of its kind, validates the facts on the ground. Oregon does not want or need military intervention, and President Trump’s attempts to federalize the guard is a gross abuse of power,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement. “Oregon National Guard members have been away from their jobs and families for 38 days. The California National Guard has been here for just over one month. Based on this ruling, I am renewing my call to the Trump Administration to send all troops home now.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement that the ruling was a “victory” for the state.

“From the beginning, this case has been about making sure that facts, not political whims, guide how the law is applied. Today’s decision protects that principle,” he said.

Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, echoed Rayfield.

“Today’s ruling by a Trump-appointed judge reflects the clear fact that protests in Portland against this administration’s sadistic immigration abuses are overwhelmingly peaceful,” Wyden said in a statement. “It’s a victory for Oregonians, for reality and the law.”

Immergut in a preliminary ruling on Sunday signaled she had not found the federal government’s argument of a rebellion in Portland credible. Nor did she seem to indicate that the federal government’s argument that she and the judiciary had no power to review the president’s decision was credible under court precedent.

In her final decision, Immergut ruled that Trump violated section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code and the 10th amendment. The former gives the president power to federalize and deploy National Guard troops when the country is in danger of invasion or rebellion or is unable “with the regular forces” to execute federal laws. The latter ensures that states hold governance and policing power not granted to the federal government by the Constitution.

She said the defendants failed to prove that protestors at the Portland ICE facility demonstrated anything more than discontent with their government, and certainly not a coordinated effort to overthrow it.

“We do not call the 300,000 Americans who participated in the March on Washington rebels, even though they openly opposed the tradition of legal segregation,” she wrote. “Nor do we refer to the movement in high schools to don black armbands in opposition to the Vietnam War a rebellion.”

It’s been just more than a month since President Donald Trump announced on social media that he would deploy troops to “war ravaged” Portland. Since then, he has federalized and attempted to deploy hundreds of National Guard from Oregon, California and Texas to Portland.

A related case involving Trump’s attempted deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois is sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court’s expedited schedule, or “shadow docket,” and a decision won’t be reached until at least Nov. 17, according to the court’s most recent request for briefs.

In his attempts to deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Portland and the Chicago area, Trump has been temporarily blocked by three U.S. District Courts and the 7th and 9th Circuit appeals courts.

Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.