Legal expert: Appeals court may rule in favor of National Guard in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon is still waiting on a decision from a federal appeals court about President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy National Guard troops in Portland.

As of Friday night, there is still no ruling from the Ninth Circuit, but a legal expert who spoke with KOIN 6 News expects that it may rule in favor of the Trump Administration.

“If the troops are only deployed to protect the ICE building, my sense from the argument is that the panel would be probably OK with that,” Tung Yin with the Lewis and Clark Law School said.

Both Portland and Chicago are involved in the growing legal battle between the White House and local officials over protests outside Portland’s ICE facility and the limits of presidential power.

In Chicago, a federal judge halted the administration’s deployment, calling the president’s actions political and the government’s narrative “unreliable.” But in Portland, a three-judge panel signalled they may side with the president.

Oregon is still waiting on that decision, but the two Trump-appointed judges verbally disagreed with the federal judge’s order blocking the deployment on Thursday.

“It may well be that the forces are used in an improper way, but we don’t have any evidence of that right now,” Judge Ryan Nelson said. “All we have is a document that says we have a federal facility under attack … and we want to protect it. That doesn’t strike me as a glaring overuse on its face.”

The administration argues that troops are needed to protect federal property, saying protests have disrupted operations at the ICE facility.

But Oregon officials say most demonstrations have been peaceful, arguing that the few clashes outside the facility have been handled by local law enforcement and widely exaggerated by the president.

But if the judges uphold the temporary restraining order, the president may turn to other options. Just this week, Trump told reporters he is open to invoking the Insurrection Act.

“So far, it hasn’t been necessary, but we have an Insurrection Act for a reason and if I had to enact it, I’d do that,” Trump said.

Yin said the White House might justify troop deployment due to the impacts on federal operations. But he also said the Portland insurrection argument doesn’t hold water — especially against the backdrop of Jan. 6.

“If that’s not an insurrection, then it’s hard to see how you know protesters outside the ICE building would be an insurrection,” Yin said.

Meanwhile, City of Portland leaders haven’t ruled out revoking the permit that allows ICE to operate in the South Portland facility, an effort that pre-dates Trump’s proposal to send in National Guard troops.

The city’s permitting department issued the violation notice after an initial investigation found nearly two dozen land use violations committed by ICE, including holding detainees longer than 12 hours.

Portland City Councilor Sameer Kanal said the city is still going through the same bureaucratic process that began last month.

“While it’s happening, we’re not really allowed to comment on where it’s happening, but…it’s not on the back burner,” Kanal said. “It’s just that the clocks are ticking and there’s a lot of process going on, on the mayor’s side.”

Kanal said while the investigation plays out, he and his colleagues are looking into other things the city could do. That includes bringing legislation that would strengthen Portland’s long-standing sanctuary status.

“We have legislation coming through to, you know, call on the mayor to do FOIA requests so we can be communicating with the public about what activities [are] going on here,” Kanal said.

It will likely still be weeks before Portland city councilors can make a decision on both the ICE facility’s fate and the strengthened sanctuary city legislation.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.