A Federal Judge Has Blocked National Guard Deployment To Oregon. What’s Next? : NPR

Juana Summers, host:

Last night, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from deploying hundreds of troops from the National Guard outside the state in the city of Portland. This comes after a decision just the day before the fact that the White House sends the sending of the own National Guard of Oregon to the city. It was the last response to a wave of measures from the Trump administration to send military forces to cities led by Democrats. The president argues that military forces are necessary to support his repression against illegal immigration. Today, the White House has filed an emergency call to suspend the judge’s decision. The Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek says that there is no need for military intervention in her state, and she joins us now. Governor, welcome.

Tina Kotek: Thank you, Juana. Thank you for doing me.

Summers: Thank you for being here. Governor, I would like to start if we can with this decision. Legal challenges work for the moment, but they may not hold. What are your projects if they don’t do it?

Kotek: Well, I hope that the rule of law prevails here. It is not only a decision of an Oregon federal judge. These are two decisions. One concerned the Oregon National Guard, and the other concerned the fact that when the first decision was released, the Trump administration said, well, we may send the California National Guard or the Texas National Guard. The judge was very clear. The facts on the ground must validate a president using this authority. And it is simply not true in this situation. And as you mentioned, the Trump administration goes to the American Circuit Court of Appeals in the 9th circuit, and I suppose that these audiences will start shortly, and we will look. But again, it is a huge authority that the president has. This must be – must correspond to the facts on the ground. And here in Oregon, this is not the case. And I think it’s an alarm clock for each state.

Summers: Ok, I just want to jump for a second. I think we should hear the president directly what he had to say about the situation there in Portland. It was then that he spoke to journalists on Sunday. Let’s listen.

(Soundbit of archived registration)

President Donald Trump: Portland burns on the ground. They are insurrectionists everywhere. It’s anti -fed. And yet politicians who are petrified – look at, politicians are afraid for their lives. This is the only reason they say, as, nothing happens.

Summers: Governor Tina Kotek, your response to this?

Kotek: Oh, it’s just ridiculous. You know, we had thousands of people on the streets of Portland for the Portland marathon yesterday. The city is beautiful. The city is booming. The events are within a radius of a block of the installation of ice. And the president – I don’t know what information he uses. I don’t know what he looks at. I don’t know if he looks at something from 2020. It is in 2025. The city of Portland is safe. Local police have the situation under control.

Summers: Browse us briefly, if you can, your specific concerns concerning an increased presence of the police or the national guard potentially in the street of Portland, as President Trump said that he would like to see.

Kotek: Putting military troops in American cities is a threat to our democracy. If you are thinking of the speech that the president delivered to the hundreds of generals who were gathered about a week ago to talk about the formation of our troops in the cities of America – we are not at war with ourselves here. There is no insurrection or rebellion, not only in Portland or Chicago or in other places. Look, there are challenges. There are legitimate demonstrations. Local police forces manage the situation, and I think it is an excessive reaction to the situation. And that’s just not true. The facts should be important.

Summers: The Higher Advisor of the White House, Stephen Miller, described the initial prohibition order of the judge prohibiting the deployment of national guard troops as a legal insurrection – his words. He continued by saying – and I quote here – that “it is a terrorist attack organized against the federal government and its officers”. He said local and state officials refused to help ice agents faced with incessant terrorist assaults and life threats. Governor, what did you think when you saw this statement by Stephen Miller?

Kotek: I don’t know what reality he lives in. This is not the situation on the ground in Portland. I have a lot of confidence in the Portland police who worked very hard to commit and make sure that the situation is sure on the ground. What we see is the climbing of federal agents who were there in the establishment. They are always able to do their work. People can legally demonstrate, and I – it’s just that the situation does not correspond to what they think.

Summers: Do you think that state law enforcement are responsible for protecting ice agents working to try to achieve their mandate?

Kotek: I think we have to respect the rule of law. You know, if there are criminal activities in the field, people are held responsible. You know, the installation can work. And people who have a disagreement with the federal government can be outside this building expressing their concerns. We can do both things. Now, I do not agree with what the Trump administration does about the application of ice cream, but they are able to do their work in Oregon, and people can protest legally. We can do both. And there is no threat of violence against officers who protect the building. And, you know, I just have to disagree with what Trump administration thinks the situation.

Summers: Governor, I would like to ask you what your conversations look like with other governors, including Governor JB Pritzker in Illinois, the Governor of California Gavin Newsom, whom I will note, joined the trial brought by your state. What kind of conversations did you have with them?

Kotek: Well, Governor Pritzker and Governor Newsom and I stayed in close contact. Everyone is worried, right? Let us think of the people involved here. The members of the National Guard in all our States – Republican or Democrats – are citizen soldiers who move away from their regular day jobs and far from their family to serve the country when they are called. They should only be used in real problems. And for – I need the members of our guard here when there is a disaster or there is something else. It is not a real urgency.

Governors are concerned. They are the chief commanders of their national guards. There is a clear delimitation of authority. There is no insurrection. There is no national threat in our cities. And I think it’s really important – it’s not just Oregon or Blue states. This is obviously where the president is targeted at the moment. It is every state. If you were a republican governor and there was another president in the White House, would you like this to happen to your condition? Absolutely not. It is a threat to our democracy, and it is not the authority that the president should exercise.

Summers: We spoke with the Governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek. Thank you so much.

Kotek: Thank you.

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