California National Guard troops will leave Oregon, officials say

PORTLAND – All 200 California National Guard troops stationed in Oregon are headed home, according to a defense official and national media reports.

President Donald Trump sent California National Guard troops to Oregon six weeks ago while in a wrestling match with the federal courts over whether he could deploy troops to protect the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, the site of near-nightly protests since June.

At the time, U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut had ruled temporarily that Trump could not deploy Oregon National Guard troops to the facility. After defense officials sent California troops instead, Immergut moved quickly to also temporarily block their deployment to the South Waterfront ICE facility.

California troops were never deployed to the ICE facility. The federal government did send nine Oregon troops to the facility for a single day, and kept them there for hours after Immergut blocked their deployment, which left the judge “deeply troubled,” she said.

Immergut issued a permanent injunction blocking the president from sending any National Guard troops to the facility earlier this month.

The judge found that Trump had no “lawful basis” to send troops to Oregon. She ruled that he failed to meet two criteria he used to invoke Title X to mobilize the National Guard: There was no danger of a rebellion against U.S. government authority in Portland, Immergut ruled, and officers have not been thwarted from executing federal law.

The federal government intends to appeal that decision.

But for now, most troops are going home.

National media outlets first reported that the federal government would send federalized troops home from Portland and Chicago. A defense official confirmed the details to the Oregonian on Sunday.

Of the 400 National Guard troops mobilized, half from California and half from Oregon, only 100 Oregon National Guard members will remain on active Title 10 orders, the defense official said.

Gov. Tina Kotek did not immediately reply Sunday to a request to confirm or comment on the situation.