A federal judge in Oregon has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Portland.
The news comes on the same day that federal agents unleashed tear gas and mace on anti-ICE agitators after more than 100 straight days of unrest.
US District Judge Karin Immergut, who is a Trump nominee, ruled on Saturday that deploying active-duty troops to secure the war-ravaged Oregon city would end up violating the US Constitution and federal law barring military involvement in domestic law enforcement.
The relationship between the federal government and the states, between the military and domestic law enforcement, and the balance of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, she mentioned in the ruling.
‘Whether we select to follow what the Constitution mandates with respect to these three relationships goes to the heart of what it means to live under the rule of law in the United States.point 279 |
’ In her ruling, Karin pointed out that the scores of demonstrations held outside a south Portland immigration facility were not notably violent or disruptive in the days and weeks before Trump’s order.point 182 | 1
‘Overall, these protests were small and so uneventful’- she wrote.