A US federal judge has temporarily halted President Donald Trump’s plan to send National Guard troops from Texas and California to Portland, Oregon.

The ruling came late on Sunday, after the same court dismissed Trump’s request to send Oregon’s own National Guard troops to Portland.

Portland is the latest Democratic-led city to be targeted as part of the president’s effort to address what he claims is out-of-control crime, following protests against his administration’s immigration crackdown.

Trump has also ordered the deployment of National Guard troops from other states to Chicago, Illinois.

US District Judge Karin Immergut issued her decision on Sunday, shortly after the Pentagon revealed that 200 members of the California National Guard had been sent to Portland to “support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties”.

California and Oregon had requested a temporary restraining order against the deployment.

Judge Immergut, who was chosen by Trump, stated that there was no proof that recent protests in the city necessitated the deployment of federalised National Guard personnel.

During an emergency hearing on Sunday, she urged federal lawyers to explain how the deployment of troops from other states was not merely a means to get around her prior decision to refuse the deployment of Oregon’s National Guard.

In that ruling, she stated that using the military to calm dissent without Oregon’s agreement jeopardised the sovereignty of that state and others, as well as inflaming tensions in Portland.

Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, described the verdict on X as “one of the most egregious and thunderous violations of constitutional order we have ever seen – and is yet another example of unceasing efforts to nullify the 2024 election by fiat.”

He later told reporters that despite the court’s intervention, Trump was considering a “very broad” spectrum of authorities for the deployment of federal assets. He declined to provide specifics, stating that this would allow local authorities to prepare their next court motions.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Judge Immergut’s judgement was “untethered from reality and the law,” and that Trump was constitutionally entitled to call up the National Guard “in cases where he deems it appropriate.”

“We’re very confident in the president’s legal authority to do this,” she told reporters. “And we’re very confident we will win on the merits of the law.”

The interim restraining order will be in force until at least October 19th. The Trump administration is anticipated to soon file an appeal against the decision.

Meanwhile, the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday to halt the Trump administration’s comparable planned force deployment to the city.

“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly for the reason that their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favour,” Kwame Raoul, the attorney general of Illinois, said.

On Monday, Trump suggested he would consider using the military under the Insurrection Act if the courts prevented him from deploying National Guard troops to US cities.

Speaking in the Oval Office, he stated, “We have an insurrection act for a reason. If I had to carry it out, I would do so.

“If people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure I would do that.”

Late on Sunday night, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced that Trump was “ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States”.

In a statement, the governor referred to the proposed deployment as “Trump’s invasion,” saying there was “no reason” to send troops into any state without the “knowledge, consent, or cooperation” of local government.

He told CNN that deploying troops there will spark protests, accusing the administration of creating a “warzone” to justify its response.

Pritzker also urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to “immediately withdraw all support for this decision and refuse to coordinate.”

In response, Abbott stated that he “fully authorised” Trump’s decision to activate the Texas National Guard “to ensure the safety of federal officials.”

“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” he said in a blog post.

Like Portland, Chicago has seen rallies against increased immigration enforcement.

On Saturday, rallies turned violent, with immigration officials claiming they fired on an armed woman after she and others allegedly slammed their automobiles into law enforcement vehicles.

The woman’s condition is unknown, but authorities say she drove herself to the hospital.

Trump has proposed using National Guard troops in a number of US cities, including Washington, DC and Los Angeles, California, to combat what he calls out-of-control crime and support immigration enforcement.

The National Guard is the principal combat reserve for the Army and Air Force. The state-based military force can be activated by either a state governor or the US president. It is frequently used to give disaster aid during floods and hurricanes, but it can also support military operations overseas.

In September, a federal judge in California found that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles was illegal because it violated an act that limits the federal government’s authority to employ military force for domestic purposes.

The administration is appealing that ruling.