A panel of judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit spiked a temporary ban on chemical weapons use outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland.

The parallel decisions, released Tuesday, deal a legal blow to protesters and residents of an apartment complex near the facility. They separately sought to limit federal law enforcement from using tear gas, pepper balls and other chemicals as a means of crowd control.

Two federal judges in the Oregon district had originally agreed to ban the weapons, but the appellate panel paused the ban this summer. The Tuesday decisions officially overturn both bans.

The twin lawsuits emerged from the clashes outside the facility, which mostly occurred in late 2025. Federal officers stationed at the facility repeatedly clashed with protesters who opposed President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

While the intersection outside the South Waterfront facility has been relatively quiet for most of the year, there is a nonzero chance large protests could return as Trump enters the final two years of his presidency.

The outcome of both lawsuits will guide federal law enforcement’s strategies for deploying tear gas, flash-bang grenades and other munitions against crowds, should they reappear.

The protesters had argued the frequent tear gas usage was unlawful because it infringed on their First Amendment rights. Neighbors of a nearby apartment complex separately argued that the tear gas, which seeped into their homes, violated their civil liberties.

Earlier this year, a pair of Oregon district judges agreed to immediately, but temporarily, restrict the federal government’s tear gas use until a full hearing can be held.

The U.S. Department of Justice appealed and has found their arguments more convincing to the appeals court panels. In July, the appellate panel tentatively paused the Oregon district judge’s ruling. Their opinions on Tuesday made it official.

In a 2-to-1 ruling, the appeals court wrote that neighbors — collectively called REACH Community Development in their lawsuit — haven’t made a convincing argument that the Constitution protects them from exposure to tear gas when federal officers are using the munitions for crowd control.

The neighbors live in Gray’s Landing, an affordable-housing complex that sits kitty-corner to the ICE facility. Residents have talked of tear gas being so pervasive that they’ve had to wear gas masks to sleep, among other precautions. Some neighbors have said the chemicals have exacerbated pre-existing medical conditions.

“We are deeply disappointed by this decision, which leaves Gray’s Landing residents without the protections they sought after chemical munitions deployed by federal agents repeatedly polluted their homes and disrupted their daily lives,” Sky Perryman, of the legal group Democracy Forward, wrote in a statement.

The decision, however, merely ends the Oregon district judge’s injunction. It does not end the full lawsuit and attorneys can continue to pursue it.

In a separate 2-to-1 ruling, the appeals panel also disagreed that federal law enforcement violated protesters’ and independent journalists’ freedom of speech by deploying tear gas.

The protesters and independent journalists — represented by the American Civil Liberties Union’s Oregon chapter — had said agents wantonly used tear gas and other devices against crowds that posed no physical threat.

“Law enforcement agents may use nonlethal force to clear crowds and restore order — they need not wait until they face ‘an imminent threat of physical harm,’” Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee wrote.

Attorneys for the ACLU did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/10/appeals-court-overturn-pause-chemical-weapons-ice-portland/