Oregon and California are going to court to block the Trump administration from sending hundreds of members of the California National Guard to Portland.

California moved Sunday to join Oregon’s lawsuit against the federal government, one day after guard members began arriving in the state by plane, Oregon officials said in a news conference Sunday.

State and city leaders announced the joint legal action in a press conference Sunday afternoon. Officials said they would also ask for an emergency court hearing as soon as possible, likely Monday, in an effort to stop the deployment.

“Oregon is our home,” Gov. Tina Kotek said Sunday. “It is not a military target.”

It’s the latest development since a federal judge on Saturday ruled that the president cannot send guard members to the city that he has described as “war-ravaged.” State and city officials have repeatedly pushed back against the president’s assertions, and say that deploying guard members is unnecessary.

“What was unlawful yesterday is unlawful today,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in the Sunday news conference. He added, “The president is trying to out-hustle us in this process.”

The president is seeking to deploy the guard members to protect the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, and federal agents there. The building, which sits less than two miles south of Portland City Hall, has recently been the site of regular protests.

“Portland is burning to the ground,” Trump told reporters Sunday. “Its insurrectionists are all over the place. It’s Antifa.”

The quest for a new restraining order comes just one day after U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from sending members of Oregon’s National Guard to Portland. Trump first nominated Immergut to the federal bench in 2018. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate the following year.

But less than 24 hours after Immergut’s ruling, Trump began deploying National Guard members from California, officials said in the Sunday press conference.

In all, 101 members arrived by plane in Oregon on Saturday night, and 99 more were on their way Sunday, Kotek said. The governor said she had not received official notice from the federal government about the action.

“This action circumvents the judge’s decision and threatens to inflame a community that has remained peaceful,” said Portland Mayor Keith Wilson.

The president’s move was first disclosed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who lambasted Trump’s decision as “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.” Newsom said in a statement Sunday afternoon that the president was deploying 300 California National Guard members.

Immergut said in her initial ruling that protests around the ICE facility have remained small since July, with no more than 20 protestors in front of the building on average. She said the federal government does not have the justification to take control of Oregon’s National Guard.

Saturday saw some of the largest protests in front of the building in the past couple of months. Federal law enforcement escalated tactics against protesters, firing tear gas and pepper balls while pushing the crowd several blocks away from the facility.

It’s unclear why the crowd was ordered to disperse. OPB reporters did not observe anyone who appeared to be trespassing.

“We saw events last night that went far beyond the pale of what we’ve seen in the past,” Wilson said during the press conference. He said federal officers shoved veterans and elderly people to the ground, and that a sniper was stationed on the facility’s roof.

“This is an aggressive approach trying to inflame the situation that has otherwise been peaceful,” Wilson said.

The California National Guard troops who arrived in Oregon were sent to Camp Withycombe, in Clackamas County, which is owned and operated by the Oregon Military Department.

Trump has also ordered 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to Chicago, according to the state’s governor, J.B. Pritzker.

Kotek said she didn’t care where the president was getting his information, as he on Sunday once again claimed the city was on fire.

“He’s intentionally disregarding the facts on the ground,” Kotek said.

She noted that the Portland Marathon was held Sunday, and that thousands of people ran safely through the city streets.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/05/california-and-oregon-sue-trump-administration-to-block-national-guard-deployment-to-portland/