Federal police push towards a crowd of demonstrators at an ICE processing facility south of downtown Portland on Sat., Oct. 4, 2025. (Photo by Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Hours after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from mobilizing 200 Oregon National Guard troops in Portland, the federal government began sending California National Guard troops to Oregon. 

Gov. Tina Kotek said Sunday that she’s aware that 101 California troops arrived in Oregon via plane overnight and that more were on their way. She received no official notice or correspondence from the federal government. 

Up to 300 soldiers from California are being sent to Oregon on Trump’s orders, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Sunday.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in an email that Trump, “exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement. For once, Gavin Newscum should stand on the side of law-abiding citizens instead of violent criminals destroying Portland and cities across the country.”

Kotek said the move, “appears to (be) intentional to circumvent yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge. The facts haven’t changed. There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. Oregon is our home, not a military target.”

Late Saturday afternoon, Trump-appointed federal Judge Karin Immergut approved a temporary restraining order to block the mobilization of Oregon troops until Oct. 18, with another check-in scheduled for Oct. 17. Attorneys for the federal government promptly filed a notice that they would appeal Immergut’s temporary order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” Immergut wrote. “Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield signaled Sunday that the state is ready to sue again to prevent the deployment of troops from California or anywhere else. 

“This president is obviously hellbent on deploying the military in American cities, absent facts or authority to do so,” Rayfield said. “It is up to us and the courts to hold him accountable. That’s what we intend to do.”

Newsom said California will also pursue legal action to stop Trump’s “breathtaking abuse of the law and power.”

“The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens,” Newsom said. “We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the president of the United States.”

Protests have continued outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, with about 100 people on the streets Saturday night. 

At one point during the evening, federal agents used chemical irritants to push protesters a block away from the facility, further than protesters who have been out for weeks said they’ve been forced back before. A Portland Police spokesperson said local law enforcement were not aware of or assisting with the federal agents’ actions.

The ramping up of federal pressure on Portland has coincided with a similar display of force in Chicago over the past few days. During a speech to military officials last week, Trump said he wanted to use Democratic cities as “training grounds” for the military. 

Senior reporter Alex Baumhardt contributed to this article. 

About 200 people showed up to protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on Sunday, Sept. 28. (Photo by Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Oregon and the city of Portland are suing President Donald Trump to block the federal government from deploying hundreds of Oregon National Guard members in an unprecedented crackdown in Oregon’s largest city.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth notified Gov. Tina Kotek on Sunday morning that he was mobilizing 200 Oregon National Guard members for 60 days under an order to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal property where protests are occurring or likely to occur. 

Hegseth’s memo came the day after President Donald Trump declared in a social media post that he would deploy troops to Portland.

Within hours of Hegseth’s memo, the Oregon Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland. Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a video press briefing Sunday afternoon that his office has been preparing for the prospect since January.

“It’s actually un-American, if you think about it, to use the military against our own citizens,” Rayfield said. “But that’s exactly what’s happening right now across our country, from California to D.C. to Memphis, to Illinois, and now to Portland.” 

Oregon is seeking a temporary restraining order to pause the planned deployment within the next 24 hours, Rayfield said.  

Gov. Tina Kotek said she spoke with Trump on Saturday and made clear that there is no insurrection or threat to public safety in Oregon. 

“Oregon is our home,” Kotek said. “It is not a military target, and we’re going to fight back to make sure that we can keep Oregon safe.” 

Portland has experienced frequent protests outside an ICE facility, and the local U.S. attorney has brought charges against 26 people since early June for crimes including arson and resisting arrest. Most protests have remained peaceful.

On Sunday afternoon, about 200 people gathered at the ICE facility in south Portland to protest ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and Trump. Federal police from the Department of Homeland Security, many wearing gas masks and helmets, surrounded the building as protesters yelled “Shame, shame!” and called for them to get out of Portland. 

Casey Leger, a self-described middle-class grandma from Southeast Portland, has been coming to protest outside the Portland ICE facility weekly since February. Recently, she’s started protesting six days a week.

“I spend a lot of time down here and I see our neighbors being taken away,” she said. “I’ve seen women trying to hold it together for their children because their husbands went in there and didn’t come out. I see it daily.”

Along with speaking with Trump on Saturday, Kotek said she exchanged texts with him on Sunday that ended with her expressing her disagreement and disgruntlement after receiving Hegseth’s memo by email. 

As governor, Kotek is the commander-in-chief of the Oregon National Guard. But Hegseth’s memo indicates that 200 members of the guard will instead receive orders by U.S. Northern Command, a joint federal military command based in Colorado. 

A 19th-century law, the Posse Comitatus Act, generally forbids military members from conducting domestic law enforcement. Oregon lawmakers considered but did not pass a bill this year to reinforce prohibitions on the National Guard being used for domestic law enforcement. 

Trump previously sent National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to respond to protests against immigration enforcement there and ordered National Guard troops to assist police in Washington, D.C., a district where federal officials have sweeping powers not granted in the 50 states.

In Oregon, despite Trump’s claims Portland is “war ravaged,” there has been no evidence of violence at protests against the administration. 

“The president is either purposefully ignoring the reality on the ground in Portland to score political points, or at best is recklessly relying upon social media gossip,” Rayfield said. “The president’s actions today only serve to further divide us as a nation, as a community under the guise of caring about public safety.”