Portland found itself in the national spotlight over the weekend as President Trump intensified efforts to deploy National Guard troops to the city, despite opposition from local and state officials, as well as a federal judge. A peaceful protest on Saturday attracted hundreds who marched from a nearby park to the ICE detention facility.
Initially, the gathering remained calm, with crowds concentrated outside the facility. However, the situation escalated when federal law enforcement emerged from the center, deploying tear gas and smoke canisters to disperse the crowd, along with firing pepper balls. Several protesters were arrested during the confrontation.
The city continues to draw attention, and a federal judge, nominated by Trump, sided with Oregon’s state officials in two temporary rulings this weekend. After blocking Trump’s order for the Oregon National Guard’s deployment, the president looked to National Guard units in California and Texas to send federal troops to Portland.
On Sunday, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut once again ruled in favor of Oregon. During a hearing regarding Trump’s attempt to deploy 200 members of the Oregon National Guard under federal command, she heard contrasting accounts of the protests at the ICE facility in South Portland.
Attorneys for the Trump administration claimed that protesters had assaulted federal officers and damaged property. In contrast, representatives for Portland and the state presented evidence indicating that protests had been relatively peaceful prior to Trump’s social media post, with reports of minimal activity and low energy, including a protest the night before that involved only a handful of participants mostly seated in lawn chairs.
Ultimately, Immergut granted a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s initiative to place the Oregon National Guard under federal control, stating that the incidents at the ICE facility did not significantly disrupt federal functions. She expressed concern that deploying the National Guard could escalate tensions and viewed such a deployment as an infringement on Oregon’s sovereignty.
