On October 7, 2025, New York City filed an amicus brief with a coalition of 74 local governments supporting Oregon in Oregon v. Trump, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold a district court order that enjoined the Trump administration’s September 2025 deployment of the National Guard to Portland. The brief argues the federal government overstepped its authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406, citing no invasion or rebellion and offering no factual basis for sending 200 troops over local objections. NYC officials say federalizing the Guard for domestic law enforcement undermines local sovereignty, disrupts public safety operations, chills economic activity, and shifts costs to taxpayers—estimating prior city deployments at $134M in Los Angeles and at least $10M in Oregon. The coalition—which includes major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Austin, plus numerous counties—contends Guard deployment should be an exceptional last resort, not a political tactic used “anytime, anywhere.”
City of New York Takes New Action Opposing Federal Government’s Military Deployment in American Cities
– The City of New York — as part of a coalition of 74 localities from around the nation — has filed a new amicus brief supporting Oregon’s ongoing case against the federal government’s unlawful deployment of the National Guard in Portland. In the brief, the coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to affirm a district court ruling in Oregon v. Trump, which enjoined the federal government from deploying federal troops in Portland. The coalition warns against the Trump administration’s plans to deploy the National Guard at “anytime, anywhere, for any reason — based on nothing more than sporadic incidents of conflict or being a disfavored jurisdiction.” The coalition highlights the harms to local sovereignty, to local peace and tranquility, and to local economies from the federal government’s deployment of the National Guard to American cities on pretextual and political grounds.
“New York City is proud to — once again — partner with a multitude of localities to assert local control over our own domain: public safety,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “Our administration has been unrelenting in driving down crime, rooting out violent criminals, and protecting New Yorkers, and we have had record drops in crime thanks to our commitment to public safety and the precision policing of the NYPD. Collaboration with state and federal law enforcement has always been a key part of our public safety strategy, but we do not need a deployment of the National Guard to our city. Instead, we plan to continue to work with the federal government on areas where collaboration is warranted, such as stopping the flow of illegal guns to our city from the Iron Belt. We remain committed to keeping New Yorkers safe while upholding our constitutional rights.”
“As highlighted in this brief, the president is continuing to treat American cities as military ‘training grounds’ based on pretext and misinformation that is contrary to the facts on the ground,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant. “Federalizing and domestically deploying the National Guard can sow chaos in local communities and should be a last resort, not a primary tactic, reserved for exceedingly rare circumstances. The district court ruling enjoining the federal government should be upheld.”
In September 2025, the Trump administration deployed members of the National Guard to Portland, citing protests of immigration enforcement operations. On October 4, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ruled that the deployment likely violated federal law because plaintiffs submitted evidence that the cited protests were not significantly violent or disruptive in the days or weeks leading up to the president’s directive. The federal government filed an application in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit seeking an immediate stay of the district court’s temporary restraining order.
In the amicus brief, the coalition argues that the federal government has overreached its authority and that the lower court’s injunction should remain in place, based on longstanding federal laws prohibiting the National Guard from engaging in domestic law enforcement. The brief asserts that the federal government has provided no factual basis or legal justification for deploying 200 federal troops in Portland over the objection of local officials. The coalition states that there was no invasion or rebellion directed toward the federal government that would have allowed it to lawfully deploy the National Guard under 10 U.S.C. 12406, and that this pretext dramatically increases the risk of irreparable injury by inflaming community tensions and interfering with local law enforcement personnel which is better trained to manage situations such as protests and crowd control.
Further, the brief cites the chilling effect that National Guard deployments have on the local economy and taxpayers — as more customers stay inside and local businesses lose customers. Also, taxpayers are stuck paying the bill for these deployments: $134 million for Los Angeles alone and, potentially, at least $10 million for Oregon.
Joining the City of New York and Portland, Oregon are the cities of Tucson, Arizona; Alameda, Anaheim, Berkeley, Culver, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San José, San Leandro, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, San Francisco, and West Hollywood, California; Denver and Ridgway, Colorado; New Haven, Connecticut; Tallahassee, Florida; Bloomington, Chicago, and Evanston, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Cambridge, and Lawrence, Massachusetts; Ann Arbor, Bellevue, and Exeter, Michigan; Hopkins, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, Minnesota; Hoboken and Newark, New Jersey, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Hudson, Rochester, and Brighton, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh and Norristown, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; Austin, El Paso, Iowa Colony, and San Marcos, Texas; Burlington, Vermont; Alexandria and Norfolk, Virginia; Tacoma, Washington; Madison and Exeter, Wisconsin; as well as the counties of Pima, Arizona; Alameda, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma, California; Denver and Ouray, Colorado; Montgomery, Maryland; Ingham and Bellevue, Michigan; Columbia, Cortland, and Monroe, New York; Multnomah, Oregon; Allegheny, Bucks, Clarion, Dauphin, and Montgomery, Pennsylvania; Davidson and Shelby, Tennessee; Harris and Travis, Texas; Kings and Pierce, Washington; Dan and Exeter, Wisconsin.
October 7, 2025 NEW YORK
Sources: NYC.gov , Big New York news BigNY.com
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