By Elizabeth Wolfe

(CNN) — A federal judge will weigh Friday whether to grant a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops into Oregon – the latest step in one of several challenges to Trump’s effort to crack down on Democratic-led cities he claims are stricken by crime and disorder.

Oregon and Portland officials jointly sued the administration this week after Trump announced he would send the National Guard to protect “war-ravaged” Portland. The state says the order is illegal and has called the president’s portrayal of the city “wildly hyperbolic.”

Trump and his administration have cited weekslong demonstrations outside the Portland ICE facility, framing them as “violent riots” tied to “Antifa domestic terrorists.” Local officials have disputed this, claiming in the lawsuit that protests were small until the president’s National Guard announcement brought renewed attention to them.

Demonstrations this week got more tense as ICE supporters came to the scene for counterprotests. Conservative influencer Nick Sortor was arrested late Thursday, along with two others, on suspicion of disorderly conduct for what police said was a physical fight. He was released hours later without bond.

Trump’s maneuver in Portland follows similar efforts in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Memphis – a push met with impassioned pushback from Democratic leaders nationwide who argue the moves are politically motivated and lack justification.

About 200 Oregon National Guard soldiers have been mobilized as part of the operation, according to the Oregon Military Department.

Protecting ICE sites is pretext, source tells CNN

US District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump nominee, will preside over Friday’s hearing in federal court. The initial judge in that case, US District Judge Michael Simon, recused himself Thursday after the Justice Department expressed concerns over comments critical of troop deployment made by his wife, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat.

The lawsuit argues this use of Oregon’s National Guard for civilian law enforcement does not fall within the narrow circumstances – including “rebellion” or invasion by a foreign nation – under which the president has the power to call state troops into federal action. Federal law says orders for this type of action should be made through state governors.

The Trump administration has said its goal is to safeguard US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities from demonstrators.

But the move is part of Trump’s wider plan to use the military to intensify his national crime crackdown, a person familiar with White House strategy told CNN. The protection of ICE facilities provides the administration with a good pretext for the deployment, the source said.

It is unclear whether the National Guard is in Portland.

Trump said Wednesday the National Guard “is now in place” in Portland. But local officials have not confirmed troops’ presence, and Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day suggested they are not.

“We believe they’ll probably be deployed in the coming days, but they’re not in place right now,” Day told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday evening. “They’re receiving some additional training.”

The Guard troops deployed to Portland will first spend several days at a facility nearly 100 miles away from the site of the protests to prepare and train, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley told CNN affiliate KGW on Wednesday.

City leaders have expressed concern the presence of the National Guard could whip up more fervent protests and stoke new unrest.

“The president has sent agents here to create chaos and riots here in Portland, to induce a reaction. To induce protests. To induce conflicts,” Merkley said in a news conference after Trump’s late September announcement. “His goal is to make Portland look as he was describing it as … Our job is to say, ‘We are not going to take the bait.’”

The Trump administration has defended its position, saying the troops will be used to support federal interests.

“Federalized members of the Oregon National Guard are prepared to support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other US Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property in Oregon,” Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell told CNN in a statement.

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