A US appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump can send National Guard forces to the city of Portland, Oregon.
This happened despite objections from city and state authorities, providing an important legal victory for the Republican president, who is sending such forces to an increasing number of cities run by Democrats, Reuters reported.
The court said it considered it "likely that the president exercised his legal authority" by sending soldiers from this corps, which is part of the US armed forces reserve. In doing so, he overturned a lower court judge's decision that had blocked the deployment of such forces to the Oregon city, according to Agence France-Presse.
Using extraordinary US military power for domestic purposes, Trump has sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis, and has announced plans to do so in Portland and Chicago. Democratic-led states and cities have filed lawsuits seeking to halt the deployment, but courts have yet to reach a final decision on the legality of Trump's decisions to send the National Guard to American cities.
Authorities in Portland and the state of Oregon are suing the government in an attempt to halt the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, arguing that Trump's actions violate several federal laws governing the use of military force, as well as states' rights under the Tenth Amendment.
The lawsuit accuses Trump of exaggerating the scale of protests against his immigration policies to justify illegally taking control of state National Guard units.
On September 27, Trump ordered 200 National Guard troops to be sent to Portland to quell the protests and strengthen immigration enforcement. The president drew sharp criticism after describing the city as "war-ravaged".