The federal Department of Homeland Security must return a Coast Guard helicopter to its longtime forward base in Newport, Ore., a federal judge ordered late Monday.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken issued a temporary restraining order after the Newport Fishermen’s Wives group and Lincoln County officials filed a lawsuit seeking immediate return of the Coast Guard aircraft, in preparation for opening of the Dungeness crab fishing season Dec. 16.

The Newport Fishermen’s Wives and county officials “presented compelling evidence of a grave risk to the lives of the Newport fishermen in the coming Dungeness crab fishing season, as well as risks to the other members of the community which rely on the Newport Air Facility for helicopter rescue,” Aiken wrote in her order Monday evening.

The Coast Guard and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem must “immediately restore and maintain the status quo ante that has prevailed since 1987 by returning the rescue helicopter to the Coast Guard’s Newport Air Facility, together with full operational capabilities,infrastructure and personnel support,” Aiken ordered.

The judge faulted Noem for failing to provide public notice to the community and Congress about the move to close the Newport air facility.

The base was set up after the 1985 loss of the crew of the fishing vessel Lasseigne that capsized, leading the Newport Fishermen’s Wives pushing for “a rapid response helicopter for Oregon’s central coast,” court papers noted.

Between 2014 and 2025, helicopter crews launching from Newport have rescued approximately 500 people, including 30 commercial fishermen whose lives were saved at sea, according to the court.

News of the helicopter's removal threw the Newport fishing community into an uproar, along with reports that the Department of Homeland Security was eyeing the city airport as a potential detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.