Oregon sues Trump over CA troop deployment to Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Hours after the Trump administration ordered California National Guard troops to Portland, essentially circumventing a federal judge’s order blocking their deployment, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson held a press conference to update what their plans are to deal with this federal escalation.

At the very beginning, Rayfield said they have filed (or will file momentarily) an amended lawsuit that includes California as a complainant and hope to get in front of US District Judge Karin Immergut as early as Monday to get another temporary restraining order.

“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 said. “The president is persistent on acting like a door-to-door salesman and doesn’t understand that when the court says ‘No,’ the court means ‘No.'”

“We all believe the presence of federal troops in Portland will only inflame the situation,” Rayfield said. The president, he said, “has a problem with an independent judiciary” and is doing his best to interfere with elections in 2026 and beyond.

“We cannot become complacent” as these threats from the Trump administration continue. “We cannot become the frog in boiling water.”

Kotek said neither she nor her office received any official word from the White House about the California troops being sent to Oregon.

Asked if the California troops deploy outside the ICE facility Sunday night, Kotek said there is “no legal way” at this moment to stop them from doing that. But Kotek also added she has no information the California troops are there.

Those hundreds of California troops arrived at Camp Withycombe in Happy Valley.

Wilson said they have seen federal troops intentionally inflaming the situation, and listed a number of things crowd control doesn’t need to do generally, including seeing snipers on the roof of the ICE facility.

Watch the entire October 5, 2025 press conference in the video player below

The governor said they’ve received credible information there are right-wing social media influencers on the roof of the ICE facility taking videos in what looks like a coordinated effort with federal agents.

Kotek said she is “technically” in charge of the Oregon National Guard again, but the appeal of the temporary restraining order makes the issue a little murky. She also clarified there are 200 California troops headed to Portland, not 300 as earlier thought.

She added the federal government is “stoking” the situation at the ICE facility — and that hard questions should be asked about why they are intentionally escalating their tactics.

“There were hundreds of people running the Portland Marathon today,” Kotek said. “26 miles through the streets of Portland. Clearly not a war zone”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sunday that President Trump has deployed 300 California National Guard members to Portland. Kotek also confirmed the deployment, stating 101 California troops already arrived in Oregon by plane Saturday night, with more on the way.

This comes in spite of a Saturday ruling from a federal judge in Oregon, which temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued the order pending further arguments in the suit, brought on by the state and city, noting the protests did not justify the use of federalized forces and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon’s state sovereignty.

However, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Saturday.

In a statement to KOIN 6 News on Sunday, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said: “At the direction of the President, approximately 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned from duty in the greater Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property.”

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this developing story.