The lawsuit was filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division, making it the latest litigation challenging President Donald Trump's deployment of the military to U.S. cities.
The filing comes after Trump on Saturday announced he was directing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to provide "all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland," saying he was authorizing their use of "Full Force, if necessary."
In the lawsuit, the Democratic-led state and city confirmed that Hegseth had issued a memorandum calling into federal service 200 members of the Oregon National Guard in infringement of the state's sovereign power to manage its own law enforcement and National Guard resources.
The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of conducting federal overreach based on disinformation, which not only fails to promote public safety but threatens it.
"Defendants' heavy-handed deployment of troops threatens to escalate tensions and stokes new unrest, meaning more of the Plaintiffs' law enforcement resources will be spent responding to the predictable consequences of Defendants' actions," the lawsuit states.
Trump has deployed the military to Portland to quell monthslong protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, but the city and state argue the use of the National Guard is overkill as there have been fewer than 30 arrests conducted during the demonstrations and none since mid-June.
It calls Trump's characterization of Portland as "war ravaged" and being "under siege" from "domestic terrorists," "nothing more than baseless, wildly hyperbolic pretext."
During a press conference Saturday, prior to the deputization of Oregon National Guardsmen and the filing of the lawsuit, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she has told both Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that they can manage their own public safety.
"There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security and there is no need for military troops in our major city," she said.
"Military service members should be dedicated to real emergencies. The members of the Oregon National Guard, their mission is to stand up and protect Oregonians, and they will do that every day, but they are not needed in this city. They are not needed here."
The lawsuit specifically accuses the Trump administration of violating a federal law limiting the authority of the president over National Guardsmen only when the United States is in danger of invasion of a foreign nation, rebellion or unable to execute U.S. laws under regular means.
It also accuses it of violating the 10th Amendment of the Constitution that guarantees police powers reside with the states.
Trump has deployed National Guardsmen to several Democratic-led cities, including Memphis and Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., attracting lawsuits.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled against the Trump administration's deployment of troops to Los Angeles, though the ruling was stayed amid the appeal.
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