WASHINGTON – The federal government is mobilizing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to safeguard immigration enforcement officials and governmental sites, according to a Defense Department memo seen by state authorities on Sunday.
This mobilization, occurring despite opposition from state officials, mirrors an operation from the previous summer in Los Angeles, where protests occurred against deportation actions, though this deployment is notably smaller.
The White House has not offered an immediate response. Efforts to reach Pentagon officials yielded no confirmations or refutations regarding the memo’s legitimacy.
President Donald Trump made an announcement on Saturday about dispatching troops to Portland. The state’s governor, Democrat Tina Kotek, expressed her disapproval of this deployment during discussions with the president on Sunday.
“Oregon is our home — not a military target,” she said in a statement.
Dan Rayfield, the state attorney general, said he was filing a federal lawsuit arguing that Trump was overstepping his authority.
“What we’re seeing is not about public safety,” he asserted. “It’s about the president flexing political muscle under the guise of law and order, chasing a media hit at the expense of our community.”
The memorandum from the Pentagon provided to Oregon authorities drew a parallel between the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June and the proposed action in the state, stating, “This memorandum further implements the President’s direction.”
While the memorandum does not specifically cite Portland as the target of the proposed deployment, Trump, in a social media post on Saturday, said he directed the Pentagon, at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, “to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
“I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary,” Trump added.
Unlike in Los Angeles, it does not appear that Trump or Hegseth are currently directing the deployment of active-duty troops to the state. The Trump administration deployed about 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles though they were withdrawn just over a month later.
The action also would be far less than Trump’s deployment to Washington, D.C., where more than 1,000 National Guard troops, including units from other states, have patrolled the streets for weeks. He also has been suggesting that he will send troops into Chicago, but so far has not done so.
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