In a win for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that officers can use crowd control weapons outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland without restrictions.

The decisions mark a setback for protesters, independent journalists and tenants of a nearby apartment complex who sued in separate lawsuits, arguing the use of tear gas and other chemical munitions by Homeland Security officers violated their constitutional rights.

Two federal judges in Oregon overseeing the two cases issued separate, preliminary orders that each limited use of those weapons to instances with specific and imminent threats of physical harm.

The Justice Department appealed both injunctions, arguing the lower courts exceeded their authority and created a dangerous situation that cut off federal officers from crowd control tools they rely on.

The pair of rulings issued Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit blocks both lower court injunctions.

Appeals court pauses rulings that limit federal force outside Portland ICE building

In the case brought by tenants of Gray’s Landing apartment complex, which sits across the street from the ICE facility, the judges appear to have tossed out the case altogether. In a 2-1 ruling, Appeals Court Judge Eric Tung found there’s no such right to be free from exposure to tear gas.

“No such right exists in the Constitution,” Tung wrote. “Nothing in our constitutional text or structure evinces such a right.”

Attorneys for the Gray’s Landing tenants and operators did not immediately respond to OPB questions about the appellate judges’ decision to toss out the case.

In a case brought by protesters and independent journalists, the same three-judge panel also ruled 2-1, that they had not shown federal agents were retaliating or there was an unwritten policy targeting demonstrators.

“Much of the evidence shows the government trying to clear the entrance to the ICE facility in the face of unrest and an unruly crowd,” Appeals Court Judge Kenneth Lee wrote for the majority. “While some individual incidents might indicate an arguably disproportionate use of force, they alone do not amount to an unwritten policy of retaliation.”

The ACLU of Oregon, which led the litigation in the protesters’ case, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Both Tung and Lee were appointed by President Trump.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/27/federal-appeals-court-grants-crowd-control-weapons-ice-portland-building/