Trump Directs Troop Deployment to Portland and Immigration Facilities

United States President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he has authorized the deployment of troops to Portland, Oregon, and to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities nationwide.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said he would direct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to carry out the order and stated that soldiers would be allowed to use “full force, if necessary.” He said the move was intended to protect “war-ravaged” Portland and ICE sites from “domestic terrorists.”

City and state officials moved quickly to oppose the move. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson argued that no troops were needed in Portland—or anywhere else in the country—and said the president would only encounter unrest if he caused it himself. Democratic leaders likewise denounced the decision.

The announcement followed a deadly shooting days earlier at an ICE facility in Texas, where one detainee was killed and two others were seriously injured. Trump attributed the attack—without presenting evidence—to the “radical left.” Protests over the federal government’s immigration policies have taken place outside ICE facilities in several cities, including Portland.

It remained unclear whether the deployment would involve the National Guard, other military branches, or both. A similar mix was used in June in Los Angeles amid protests against immigration raids. Separately, the administration has deployed troops to Washington, DC, which Trump said was aimed at reducing crime.

State and local leaders in Oregon said the action runs counter to their wishes. By law, the National Guard is generally deployed at a governor’s request, and lawsuits are ongoing in California and Washington, DC, over troop deployments.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, drew a parallel to 2020, when federal forces were sent to Portland after protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Senator Ron Wyden wrote on X that Trump seems poised to repeat the 2020 playbook, moving into Portland with the aim of stirring confrontation and violence.

Despite Trump’s characterization of Portland, a recent Major Cities Chiefs Association report showed overall violent crime in the city fell 17 percent from January to June compared with the first six months of 2024.

Source: aljazeera