The lawsuit from California and Oregon seeks to stop a federal order deploying troops to Portland amid nationwide protests
The US states of California and Oregon filed a lawsuit on Sunday seeking to block the administration of President Donald Trump from deploying 200 California National Guard troops to the city of Portland.
The legal challenge comes amid nationwide protests over Trump’s immigration crackdown and use of military forces in cities. The Pentagon said it would dispatch the troops to “support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel carrying out official duties, including enforcing federal law and protecting federal property.”
California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, said he is suing Trump over the guard deployment, calling it “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.” Oregon and California maintain that the deployment of out-of-state guard troops is a new overreach and requires a separate court decision.
A federal judge in Oregon has issued a temporary block on any deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, including those coming from other states such as California.
Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined Oregon in asking Judge Karin Immergut to extend the order and bar the transfer of California troops to Oregon.
The court order will remain in place until at least October 19 as the legal challenge proceeds.
The dispute followed a decision by Immergut that blocked the Trump administration from deploying Oregon’s own National Guard to Portland amid protests.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that the troop deployments were necessary because “Portland is burning to the ground,” a claim local officials denied.
The development comes amid broader tensions between states and the federal government over the use of military force in domestic settings.
Protests erupted over the weekend in several US cities, with hundreds gathering outside Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Demonstrators clashed with federal officers during late-night rallies that led to several arrests. Smaller solidarity marches were also held in Seattle, San Francisco, and Denver.
Trump previously deployed about 2,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in June to quell unrest over immigration raids. Immigration enforcement was a central theme of his 2024 election campaign, influencing many of his domestic policy decisions.
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