Federal police wait inside the gate of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center south of downtown Portland during protests on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2025. (Photo by Alex Baumhardt)
Lawyers for the state of Oregon allege federal attorneys severely mischaracterized the number of federal police officers sent at any given time to Portland over the summer, and that the error undercuts the federal government’s argument for deploying National Guard troops to the city.
Federal lawyers have said that a “surge” of 115 federal police were sent to work 24/7 since June to protect a Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility from what Trump administration officials have tried to characterize as chaos and violence by protestors at the building.
But the actual number of federal police deployed to Portland since June — numbers that Oregon received Wednesday night as part of an ongoing lawsuit — shows there was no one single surge that reflects the picture federal lawyers painted.
In actuality, no more than 31 federal police officers were sent to protect the facility during any one-month period throughout the summer, the state’s numbers show. And during the three weeks around President Donald Trump’s orders to federalize National Guard troops, 20 federal police officers were at the Portland ICE facility.
In light of the new information, Oregon’s lawyers on Friday asked a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to void a 2-1 Monday decision that greenlit Trump’s ability to federalize the Oregon National Guard and deploy 200 troops to Portland.
“This Court must act swiftly to prevent defendants from attempting to benefit from their own material mistake to deploy military forces to peaceful civilian streets, contravening the rule of law and our nation’s history and traditions,” Oregon’s lawyers wrote.
The three 9th Circuit judges — Susan Graber, Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade — had not publicly responded to Oregon’s request as of Friday afternoon.
The discovery was revealed shortly before a hearing Friday morning in the U.S. District Court in Portland, where Judge Karin Immergut is deciding whether the 9th Circuit’s Monday ruling halting her order that stopped Trump from federalizing Oregon National Guard troops also applies to her second order blocking troops from anywhere in the country from being deployed to Oregon. She issued the second order after Trump attempted to circumvent her first order by calling up National Guard troops from California and Texas to go to Portland.
Immergut said Friday that she would have a decision about whether the 9th Circuit’s ruling pauses both of her orders “by Monday, if not before.”
If she agrees with the federal government’s argument, then up to 200 federalized National Guard troops from Oregon could be sent to Portland immediately. It would not impact the timing of an expedited trial before Immergut scheduled for Wednesday, when the federal government must defend itself in a lawsuit brought by Oregon and the city of Portland over the legality of the troop deployments.
Several other factors, including a Supreme Court ruling on a similar case in Illinois that’s expected next week, as well as the potential for a larger group of 9th Circuit judges to review the three-judge panel’s decision, could also stop Guard deployment before next week.
Fewer police present
The federal government’s argument that ICE officials and federal police at the building were so overwhelmed by violent protesters that they needed support from the National Guard stemmed from an October declaration from the regional director of the Federal Protective Service that 115 officers, or nearly 25% of its nationwide force, had been sent to Portland to assist at the facility.
A federal attorney said during an earlier hearing “some” of the 115 officers had gone home, but “many” remained.
But Oregon’s attorneys say evidence they received Thursday night makes clear the federal government misrepresented the information.
There were never 115 federal police at once protecting the ICE building. Instead, the data shows that there were 107 over the course of four months, with no more than 31 on the ground at any given time.
At Friday’s hearing, Immergut questioned whether she should wait for the 9th Circuit to respond to the new numbers before deciding whether her restraining orders stand.
Other decisions could impact Guard deployment
A three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal government could deploy the National Guard, but losing parties can ask for the full court to review a decision. Oregon did, so now the 29 judges across nine states and two territories that make up the 9th Circuit are deciding whether a larger group of judges should review and reconsider that decision.
If a majority agree to review it, Bade and Nelson’s decision is immediately suspended and no Guard can be deployed to Portland.
Willamette University professor Norman Williams, a constitutional law expert, said those judges will likely decide whether to review the case soon because of the case’s urgency.
Williams said the 9th Circuit rarely grants such fuller reviews, but Oregon has made a compelling case that the decision by Bade and Nelson was inconsistent with other court precedent. Granting a review would set off what would likely be several weeks of hearings and decision-making.
Additionally, different circuit courts are split on National Guard deployments. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court order to keep National Guard troops from Texas out of Illinois, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter next week.
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