Appeals court allows Trump to deploy National Guard to Portland

SAN FRANCISCO - A US appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump can deploy National Guard troops Portland, Oregon.

The court granted a request from the justice department to halt a judge's order which blocked the deployment while a legal challenge to Trump's action plays out.

The decision clears the way for some 200 troops to be deployed to protect federal buildings, despite objections from city and state officials, who say intervention in Portland is not needed.

Portland is one of several other mostly Democratic-led cities Trump has ordered National Guard troops into, as part of a crackdown on what he describes as crime, including in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California.

The ruling by the San Francisco-based appeal's court allows the troops to be deployed while legal challenges continue in court.

US District Court Judge Karen Immergut had issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month, which blocked Trump's use of the Oregon National Guard.

Hours later, Judge Immergut blocked another attempt by Trump to deploy the military, this time with units from the Texas National Guard instead of Oregon.

But prosecutors for the Department of Justice argued that troops are needed in Portland to calm continued protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, which have at times led to violent clashes between federal agents and protesters.

Monday's ruling, by a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, said Trump's plan to deploy the troops for 60 days was a "measured response".

Two of the judges who ruled in favor of Trump had been nominated by him, while the judge that dissented was nominated by Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

In response to the ruling, the White House said: "As we have always maintained, President Trump is exercising his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel following violent riots that local leaders have refused to address."

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said the decision would give "the president unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on our streets with almost no justification".

"We are on a dangerous path in America," he said.

He also urged judges to join together to vote "to vacate the majority's order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur". (Source: BBC News)