Governors vow fight after Trump orders California National Guard to Oregon

President Donald Trump is sending California National Guard members to Oregon after a judge temporarily blocked his administration from deploying that state’s guard to Portland, and the Democratic governors of both states pledged Sunday to fight the move in court.

A Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement that about 200 federalized members of the California National Guard who had been on duty around Los Angeles were being reassigned to Portland. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said about 100 arrived Saturday and around 100 more were en route Sunday.

Kotek said there had been no formal communication with the federal government about the deployment. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said about 300 previously federalized California guard members could eventually be deployed.

The events in Oregon come a day after Illinois’ governor made a similar announcement about troops in his state being activated.

Kotek said the latest move by federal officials is an attempt to circumvent Saturday’s court ruling that blocked deployment of Oregon’s guard members.

“The facts on the ground in Oregon haven’t changed,” Kotek said during a news conference Sunday. “There’s no need for military intervention in Oregon. There’s no insurrection in Portland, there’s no threat to national security.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield the state would go back to court on Monday, along with California, seeking to block the latest deployment.

“What was unlawful yesterday is unlawful today,” Rayfield said. “The judge’s order was not some minor procedural point for the president to work around, like my 14-year-old does when he doesn’t like my answers.”

Rayfield added that Oregon “will absolutely not be a party to the president’s attempt to normalize the use of the United States military in our American cities.”

Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement that California personnel were on their way Sunday and called the deployment “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.” He said these troops were “federalized” and put under the president’s control months ago over his objections, in response to unrest in Los Angeles.

“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.”

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland has recently been the site of nightly protests. A Trump-appointed federal judge in Oregon on Saturday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to deploy the Oregon National Guard in Portland to protect federal property amid protests after Trump called the city “war-ravaged.”

Oregon officials and Portland residents alike said that description was ludicrous. The protest was relatively small and localized to just one block of the city of 650,000 residents, Kotek said.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee during his first term, issued the order pending further arguments in a lawsuit brought by the state and city. She said the relatively small protests did not justify the use of federalized forces and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon’s state sovereignty.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said Sunday that he saw federal agents engaged in what he described as unjustified use of force and indiscriminately spraying pepper spray and impact munitions during a protest outside the ICE facility.

“This is an aggressive approach trying to inflame the situation that has otherwise been peaceful,” Wilson said.

Portland has alerted the civil rights division of the Department of Justice to the agents’ actions, Wilson said.

Trump has characterized both Portland and Chicago as cities rife with crime and unrest. Since the start of his second term, he has sent or talked about sending troops to 10 cities.

Trump authorized the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago on Saturday.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said the situation in Chicago “does not require the use of the military and, as a result, the Governor opposes the deployment of the national guard under any status.” Pritzker didn’t receive any calls from federal officials about the deployment, his office said.