WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprising move, the Oregon National Guard has announced that 200 of its members will be placed under federal control and deployed to protect immigration enforcement officers and government facilities. This decision comes via a Defense Department memo obtained by state leaders on Sunday.
State officials have expressed their discontent over the deployment, which they view as an infringement on the state's autonomy. It is said to mirror a similar federal action in Los Angeles last summer, targeting immigration enforcement protests, but on a considerably smaller scale.
As of now, the White House has not commented, and multiple Pentagon officials have not confirmed or denied the memo's contents.
President Donald Trump had announced on Saturday his intentions to send troops to Portland, which Governor Tina Kotek firmly opposed in a direct conversation with him, stating, Oregon is our home — not a military target. Meanwhile, Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced plans to file a federal lawsuit, arguing that the president was overstepping his authority.
Commissioning the National Guard is not an action about public safety, according to Rayfield, but rather about exercise of political power at the community's expense. The Pentagon memo directly referenced past deployments in a manner that suggests alignment with Trump’s directives.
While the memo does not explicitly cite Portland as a target, Trump, in a social media post, claimed he directed the Pentagon to deploy troops to protect what he referred to as besieged ICE facilities. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary, he added.
Unlike the Los Angeles action, it appears that the deployment of active-duty troops to Oregon has not been directed, as was done last year with 700 Marines sent to California only to be withdrawn a month after. This current situation significantly contrasts with a larger deployment in Washington, D.C., where more than 1,000 National Guard troops have been patrolling due to ongoing tensions.
