Photo: Collected

WASHINGTON, Nov 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - 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.

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 Sunday and seen by AFP, 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 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.

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.

Much of the violence that did occur "involved... protesters and counterprotesters" and was generally not directed at federal officers or ICE facilities, she added.

Immergut, nominated by Trump to the federal bench in 2018, said she needed more time to review the "voluminous" evidence in the case.

She also said there was no evidence that the "episodes of violence were perpetrated by an organized group engaged in armed hostilities for the purpose of overtaking an instrumentality of government by unlawful or antidemocratic means."

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield welcomed the ruling, saying in a statement that "from the beginning, this case has been about making sure the facts -- not the president's political whims -- guide how the law is applied."

Democratic Governor Tina Kotek, who last month said on social media there was "no need for military intervention in Oregon," has also welcomed the decision.

Kotek told local media that the extension is "further affirmation of our democracy and the right to govern ourselves."

The state "stands united against this unwanted, unneeded, unconstitutional military intervention," she said.

The judge is expected to issue a final ruling by Friday.