US District Judge Karin Immergut ruled Friday, November 7, that the Trump administration is permanently barred from deploying the National Guard to Oregon. The decision was a long-awaited ruling in a case that catapulted Portland into the national spotlight.

Immergut’s ruling is a permanent injunction against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem, banning them from carrying out recent plans to send troops to Portland. The ruling found that the federal government’s decision to briefly deploy unlawfully federalized troops to Oregon early last month violated US code and the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. 

The ruling also found that “Oregon has suffered irreparable injury from the unlawful federalization and deployment of both its own National Guard and the National Guards of other states.” 

“Lastly, there are no adequate remedies available at law, and the balance of hardships and the public interest favor Plaintiffs,” the ruling states. 

Immergut made it clear that the court’s ruling “does not rule that the President can never deploy the National Guard to Oregon, or to any other location, if conditions on the ground justify the Guard’s intervention.” But, the ruling says, the conditions at protests outside Portland’s ICE facility have not justified such intervention. 

“The protesters at the ICE Facility were not organized. Further, evidence at trial does not support that the protesters acted with the common purpose of overtaking the Portland ICE facility by unlawful or antidemocratic means,” the ruling states, explaining why protests at Portland’s ICE building have not constituted a rebellion. 

On Sunday, November 2, following a three-day trial that week, the judge issued a preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo and keep the National Guard troops federalized, but not deployed. Immergut’s injunction was a temporary stopgap to give her more time to review a multitude of evidence and exhibits submitted during the trial. Immergut’s most recent ruling also “preserves the status quo in which National Guard members have been federalized but not deployed,” enabling the Oregon National Guard to remain federalized for 14 more days. 

“However, with respect to the deployment of any state’s National Guard to Oregon, based on any of the above orders, this permanent injunction order is in full force and effect,” the ruling states. 

Oregon filed suit against the Trump administration on September 28, a day after the president took to social media to order the Oregon National Guard to deploy into Portland amid protests at the ICE processing center in the city’s South Waterfront neighborhood. In his post, Trump described the city as “war ravaged” and said he was sending troops to Portland “and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek suggested the president was likely viewing old footage from 2020 racial justice protests in Portland when he ordered the National Guard’s deployment, against the governor’s wishes. 

In a phone call with the president, Kotek tried, to no avail, to convince Trump that the city was not, in fact, ravaged by war, and its protests did not warrant military intervention. 

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, and prior to Oregon’s trial getting underway, Judge Immergut issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) at the state’s request, to block Guard deployment. The following day, she issued another one, after Trump tried to circumvent the order by federalizing National Guard troops from out of state to send to Oregon. 

Immergut learned during last week’s trial that, as her ruling on the TRO was pending in early October, National Guard troops had briefly been sent to Portland and were active for a few hours before being “called back” after news of the order.

Immergut was appointed to her position by Trump during his first term. 

The Trump administration appealed the initial TRO at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 2-1 ruling, the court sided with the Trump administration, concluding federal agents in Portland were unable to respond to nightly anti-ICE protests without enduring significant strain on their staffing. That ruling was immediately halted, however, after 9th Circuit judges voted to rehear the appeal at a later date. That hearing date has yet to be announced.

Friday's ruling is likely to be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court as well, and may be heard by a three-person panel of judges. 

In the meantime, Oregon leaders are celebrating Immergut’s final ruling. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield called the ruling a “huge victory for Oregon,” demonstrating that “the courts are holding [the Trump administration] accountable to the truth and the rule of law.” 

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