Oregon and its largest city, Portland, are suing to block President Donald Trump from deploying the state’s national guard, calling it an unconstitutional abuse of power.
“Far from promoting public safety, Defendants’ provocative and arbitrary actions threaten to undermine public safety by inciting a public outcry,” the state and city contend in the lawsuit filed Sunday in federal court in Portland.
“I think this is a sad day for our country, a sad day for Oregon that the president of the United States does not listen to local leaders about what they need,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, told reporters during a videoconference shortly after the suit was filed.
“When the president and I spoke yesterday, I told him in very plain language there is no insurrection or threat to public safety that necessitates military intervention in Portland or any other city in our state,” Kotek said. “Putting our own military on our streets is an abuse of power … Local law enforcement has this under control.”
“It’s actually un-American, if you think about it, to use the military against our own citizens but that’s exactly what’s happening right now, across our country,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, told the press conference. He said his office plans to file within the next day for a temporary restraining order against the deployment.
The lawsuit follows Trump’s announcement on social media Saturday that he was ordering the Defense Department to send troops to Portland to use “full force, if necessary,” to combat protests that he said were interfering with immigration enforcement. Trump described the decision as the result of a request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Oregon officials say the Pentagon followed through on Trump’s order on Sunday morning, calling up 200 members of the state’s 6,500-member National Guard contingent. State officials say even the relatively small call-up could damage the state’s ability to respond to emergencies.
Lawyers for the state say protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been small and relatively subdued, routinely featuring fewer than 30 people, and that there have been no arrests related to those protests from June until earlier this week.
Spokespeople for the White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit closely tracks a similar suit filed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in June, when Trump deployed the Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles against the wishes of state and local officials. Though Newsom won a quick restraining order, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the lower court’s decision, effectively allowing the deployment.
The suit does not appear to challenge any move by the federal government to send regular U.S. military personnel to Portland. It focuses solely on foreclosing the Pentagon from turning to Oregon’s National Guard detachment for whatever mission Trump seeks to pursue there.
It was not entirely clear where Trump intends to send troops. In his post on Truth Social on Saturday, he described Portland as “War ravaged” and suggested a firm response was needed to deter attacks by “Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
Kotek said Trump told her by phone Saturday he’d heard of multiple fires, and of the federal courthouse in downtown Portland being besieged, which she said may be based on the president watching video of unrest five years ago.
“We cannot be looking at footage from 2020 and assume that that is the case today in Portland,” the governor said.
The Oregon officials called the president’s move a pretext that is likely to inflame tensions, draw larger and more unruly protests, and force the city and state to use more police resources.
“Defendants’ unlawful federalization and deployment of Oregon National Guard members infringes on Oregon’s sovereign interest in managing law enforcement within its borders, including the authority to manage protests and unrest,” Rayfield and Portland City Attorney Robert Taylor wrote in the new suit.
Speaking to reporters, Kotek did appear to caution local residents opposed to the deployment against using violence against any of the state’s national guard troops who may be put on Portland’s streets.
“I want to remind everyone to remember that the Oregon National Guard is made up of Oregonians who are citizen-soldiers,” Kotek said. “All of us are encouraging Oregonians to not take the bait.”
“This is a surreal moment that is being manufactured,” said. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, a Democrat. “We won’t be tripped up.”
The case was assigned Sunday to U.S. District Judge Michael Simon, an Obama appointee.