A US judge will not allow President Donald Trump to deploy members of the National Guard to the city of Portland, Oregon.
The ruling is the latest in a weeks-long court battle over whether the president violated federal law when he sent troops to an American city over the objections of local officials.
Troop deployment to the city had been blocked due to a temporary court order. Now, that order is permanent.
The deployment in Portland is part of a series of efforts by the Trump administration to quell protests against federal immigration raids in cities primarily led by Democrats, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington DC.
The decision by US District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, is the first time the Trump administration was permanently prevented from deploying troops to a city.
However, the administration is expected to appeal the decision and the matter could end up before the Supreme Court.
When she ruled against the Trump administration earlier this month, Judge Immergut issued two temporary restraining orders. One prevented Trump from moving the Oregon National Guard to Portland, while another broader order prevented him from sending troops from any state to Oregon. Trump had attempted to send forces from California and Texas.
In the 106-page ruling, Judge Immergut said she was not stopping the president from using National Guard troops, but said that in Portland “the president had no legal basis to federalize the National Guard.”
He wrote that there was neither rebellion nor danger of rebellion when the president needed to deploy troops.
He also said that Trump had violated the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution, which grants states any powers not explicitly granted to the federal government.
The judge added that she would leave it to a higher court to set a standard for when a president can “deploy the military to the streets of American cities,” but that “wherever precisely this line is, the defendants have failed to clarify it.”
In Oregon, there have been competing narratives between state and local officials and the Trump administration about what exactly is happening on the ground.
The Justice Department described the city as “war-torn” and said there has been a violent siege at a Portland immigration detention center.
“As we have always maintained, President Trump is exercising his legal authority to protect federal assets and personnel in the wake of violent unrest that local leaders have refused to address,” the White House previously said.
But local officials and many city residents have said the violence is not widespread and is contained by Portland police.
“This case is about whether we are a constitutional law nation or a martial law nation,” said Portland attorney Caroline Turco.
