Court approves Trump’s Oregon National Guard deployment to Portland
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A US appeals court allows Trump to deploy Oregon National Guard troops to Portland amid disputes over protecting ICE facilities and federal property.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stand outside an ICE facility during a protest on Saturday, October 4, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. (AP)
A federal appeals court has granted authorization for the Trump administration to deploy members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland, overturning an earlier decision that had blocked the move amid ongoing legal disputes over the use of federal force in US cities.
In a 2-1 ruling released on Monday, a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit lifted a lower court’s injunction, allowing federal authorities to proceed with the deployment to protect federal immigration offices and other government facilities.
“We thus conclude that Defendants are likely to succeed on the merits of their appeal, and that the other stay factors weigh in their favor. We grant Defendants’ motion for a stay pending appeal,” the court order stated.
'Escalating unrest'
The ruling marks a legal victory for the Trump administration, which has defended the deployment as necessary to ensure the security of federal agents and property amid what it calls escalating unrest.
President Donald Trump first announced the plan on September 27, instructing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to send National Guard troops to safeguard “war-torn” Portland and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. The administration has repeatedly blamed Antifa, which Trump designated as a terrorist organization, for violence and property damage during protests in the city.
The deployment remains controversial, with civil rights groups warning that it could inflame tensions in Portland, where clashes between demonstrators and federal agents have persisted for years.
FBI agents assigned to support ICE
Nearly half of FBI agents in the United States’ largest field offices have been reassigned to support immigration enforcement, according to new personnel data obtained by Senator Mark Warner.
The reallocation marks a significant shift in federal law enforcement priorities under the Trump administration, raising alarms about the potential impact on national security and other core FBI operations.
Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, revealed that 45% of FBI agents in the 25 largest field offices are now working alongside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Nationwide, 23% of the FBI’s 13,000 agents are currently involved in immigration-related assignments, many spending more than half their workweek on such tasks.
Immigration work displaces key national security operations
The redirected agents were previously assigned to divisions handling counterterrorism, cybercrime, violent crime, counterintelligence, espionage, and drug trafficking, areas long considered vital to US national security. Critics say the shift prioritizes political goals over public safety.
“When you pull a quarter of the FBI’s top agents off the front lines of fighting terrorists, spies, drug traffickers, and violent criminals, the consequences are clear,” said Warner. “Critical national security work gets sidelined, and our country is put at greater risk.”
The internal FBI data, first reported by The Washington Post, only accounts for agents whose duties are now primarily focused on immigration, suggesting that the true scale of the shift could be even greater. In some offices, over half of the staff may be engaged in support of ICE operations.
The personnel changes reflect a broader effort by the Trump administration to accelerate immigration enforcement. The White House is reportedly targeting 3,000 arrests per day and is expanding detention capacity to hold more than 100,000 people.
