(Washington) American justice has once again blocked, until November 7, the deployment of National Guard soldiers in Portland, Oregon, requested by President Donald Trump.
In her 16-page order, consulted by AFP, federal judge Karin Immergut says she needs more time to examine the case.
President Trump wants to deploy the National Guard in this Democratic city in order, according to him, to protect the immigration police (ICE), the main instrument in his policy of mass expulsions of illegal aliens, who would be the target of violent demonstrators.
The deployment of National Guard troops in several Democratic cities in the United States is hotly contested in the courts.
“From the beginning, this case has been about respect for the facts — not the political whims of the President — in guiding the application of the law,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement released after Sunday night’s order.
Oregon’s Democratic governor, Tina Kotek, called the court ruling “a further affirmation of our democracy and the right to govern ourselves” denouncing an “unwanted, unnecessary and unconstitutional military intervention.”
At the end of September, President Trump announced on social media that he would “provide all necessary troops” to protect Portland, which he described as “war ravaged.”
In her order, the judge says she found “no credible evidence” that the protests outside the ICE building “got out of control.”
The judge also stressed that the protests in front of the ICE building “probably did not constitute a danger of rebellion.”
According to her, the violence recorded in front of the ICE building constituted “isolated and sporadic cases”. There is no evidence, she insisted, that “these episodes of violence were perpetrated by an organized group engaged in armed hostilities with the aim of seizing an instrument of government by illegal or undemocratic means.”
The judge plans to issue a final decision by Friday. Whatever the outcome, it is likely that the decision will be appealed.
