In a bold escalation of federal efforts to curb unrest in Portland, Oregon, Border Czar Tom Homan announced on October 4, 2025, that National Guard troops are gearing up for a full takeover of key areas long dominated by Antifa activists. Speaking on Fox News’ “Saturday in America,” Homan described the deployment as essential to safeguard ICE and CBP operations, allowing agents to “arrest public safety threats, national security threats, remove them from the community, and deport them,” thereby restoring safety to neighborhoods plagued by violence. This comes amid reports of federal agents surging out of the Portland ICE facility to execute targeted arrests of Antifa members, with videos capturing dramatic scenes of black-clad protesters being dragged into custody by a coalition of ICE, Border Patrol, Federal Protective Service, and Customs and Border Protection officers. Eyewitness accounts and social media footage from the scene depict a tense standoff, where protesters blocking streets faced pepper balls and swift detentions, signaling a zero-tolerance shift under the Trump administration’s renewed focus on immigration enforcement and anti-domestic extremism measures.

However, the momentum hit a legal roadblock late on October 4 when U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a temporary restraining order, halting the Trump administration’s plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland. The judge, a Trump appointee herself, ruled that the federalization of state forces was “untethered to facts” and invoked concerns over martial law, emphasizing that America operates under constitutional law, not unilateral executive overreach. The lawsuit, filed by Oregon state officials, argued the deployment violated state sovereignty amid claims of exaggerated unrest, with Immergut scheduling a hearing for October 18 to review the injunction. Protests outside the ICE facility intensified in response, with demonstrators decrying the moves as authoritarian, while federal officials maintained the action was necessary to counter a 1,000% spike in assaults on agents.

Undeterred by the judicial setback, President Trump swiftly pivoted by ordering the deployment of 300 California National Guard troops to Oregon, prompting an immediate backlash from Governor Gavin Newsom, who branded it a “breathtaking abuse of law and power” and vowed to sue the administration. In a fiery statement, Newsom accused Trump of weaponizing the military for political gain rather than addressing real crime, urging Americans to speak out against what he called an authoritarian ploy, with the troops already en route as of October 5. This cross-state maneuver, bypassing the judge’s order on Oregon forces, has ignited fresh legal battles and partisan divides, with Trump allies hailing it as decisive leadership against “Antifa occupation” and critics warning of escalating federal-state tensions that could ripple nationwide.