A US federal judge extended on Sunday an order blocking President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Portland, Oregon, for five days pending a final ruling.
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The Republican president has sent the National Guard to three Democratic-led cities this year – Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis – but his efforts to deploy soldiers in Portland and Chicago have been tied up in the courts.
Trump has repeatedly called the Oregon city “war-ravaged”, and riddled with violent crime, to justify sending forces there.
In a 16-page order issued late on Sunday, Judge Karin Immergut said there was “no credible evidence” showing that protests in the months before the president took control of Oregon’s National Guard were “out of control” or made United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “unable to execute immigration laws”.
Protests sparked by a spike in immigration raids have caused unrest across the country, as Trump has pushed for a massive wave of deportations – a hallmark of his 2024 presidential campaign.
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In her order, Immergut said she had not seen enough evidence to suggest that protests “involved more than isolated and sporadic instances of violent conduct”, noting “no serious injuries to federal personnel” and no “significant damage to the ICE facility” in Oregon.
