An appeals court in the 9th U.S. Circuit paused enforcement of orders limiting federal officers’ tear gas use during protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, according to the Associated Press. The decision arrived on Wednesday in two linked cases that challenged how federal officers handled demonstrators outside ICE facilities.
The three-judge panel granted the Trump administration’s request for temporary administrative stays, AP reported. The panel’s ruling was 2-1, with two judges appointed by President Donald Trump and one dissenting judge appointed by former President Joe Biden, AP said.
The Portland ICE building has been the focus of protests tied to the administration’s deportation efforts since last June, AP reported. Demonstrations have included months of nightly demonstrations and repeated efforts by federal authorities to disperse crowds, with the lawsuits describing chemical munitions being used even when protests involved small groups.
AP reported that at a large-scale demonstration in late January, federal authorities fired tear gas at hundreds of people during a daytime march, and that children were among those exposed. The federal responses prompted two lawsuits: one filed by the ACLU of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists, and another brought by residents of an affordable housing complex across from the Portland ICE building, according to AP.
The suits argued that federal officers’ use of chemical and projectile munitions violated protesters’ and residents’ rights, AP reported. The Department of Homeland Security, a defendant in both cases, said it was authorized to use measures that are appropriate and necessary to defuse violence against officers, AP said.
In the separate Portland proceedings, federal judges overseeing the cases issued preliminary injunctions earlier in March that limited federal agents from using chemical munitions unless someone posed an imminent threat, AP reported. The Trump administration appealed those rulings, and the 9th Circuit panel’s stay paused the effect of the injunctions while the appeals proceed.
The appeals court also indicated procedural next steps. In its order, the 9th Circuit panel said oral arguments in the two cases will be consolidated and scheduled for April 7, AP reported.
As covered by MSI previously, a Portland judge had earlier limited tear gas use during protests at the same facility in March, and the new appeals decision keeps those limits from taking effect for now while the higher court weighs the challenges.