An appeals court decision allowing the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to Portland is currently on hold as judges review the situation more closely. On Friday afternoon, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the order made by a three-judge panel earlier in the week. This hold will remain in effect until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, to enable a larger group of appeals judges to consider whether to rehear the case.
This ruling is part of an ongoing legal battle concerning President Donald Trump’s authority to send National Guard troops to safeguard a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland. As a result, any potential troop deployment is likely postponed until at least next week.
The latest developments coincide with a separate legal proceeding in a lower court. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut held a hearing on Friday morning regarding the potential dissolution of a temporary restraining order that prevents troops from being sent to Portland. The Trump administration contended that this restraining order was not legally valid, following Monday’s ruling affirming the president’s right to deploy the Oregon National Guard in response to ongoing protests.
Judge Immergut indicated she would issue a ruling by Monday, which could pave the way for troop deployment. However, the new order from the 9th Circuit alters that timeline. In the initial ruling, a panel of three judges, including two appointed by Trump, concluded that the president had the legal authority to mobilize 200 National Guard troops in late September to respond to months of protests in Portland. The dissenting judge, appointed by President Bill Clinton, voiced strong opposition to this conclusion.
Following the ruling, a 9th Circuit judge called for a vote on whether a broader group of judges should consider the case, with Friday’s ruling aimed at allowing that vote to take place before any troop deployment decisions are made.
The Monday ruling referenced incidents of destructive protests at the ICE facility in June and the Trump administration’s claim of needing to deploy officers from other regions for protection. However, the actual number of officers sent to Portland has sparked some debate. The majority opinion, authored by Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, claimed that 115 Federal Protective Service officers had been dispatched to Portland, suggesting a significant diversion of resources. New court documents, however, reveal that these officers were deployed in smaller groups of up to 30 over the course of roughly a month.
