US Pentagon orders troops to prepare for potential Minnesota deployment

The Pentagon successful the United States has ordered immoderate 1,500 progressive work soldiers successful Alaska to beryllium acceptable to beryllium deployed to Minnesota, wherever ample protests person been taking spot against national migration raids, US media reported.

Two unnamed officials told Reuters connected Sunday that 2 infantry battalions from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is based successful Alaska and specialises successful operating successful arctic conditions, person been fixed prepare-to-deploy orders to the duplicate cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, wherever protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are continuing, contempt freezing conditions.

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In a connection emailed to The Associated Press quality agency, Pentagon main spokesperson Sean Parnell did not contradict that the orders were issued and said the subject “is ever prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.”

ABC News was the archetypal to study the development.

The quality comes arsenic wide protests proceed successful the duplicate cities of Minneapolis and St Paul against convulsive tactics utilized by adjacent to 3,000 national ICE agents deployed to the city, pursuing the shooting decease of Minneapolis nonmigratory and parent Renee Nicole Good, 37.

Multiple radical person been injured arsenic the raids continue, with ICE besides reporting connected Sunday that a antheral had died successful ICE detention aft being arrested successful Minneapolis.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old from Nicaragua, died successful ICE custody astatine Camp East Montana successful El Paso, Texas, connected Sunday afternoon, 12 days aft helium was arrested successful Minneapolis, ICE said successful a statement.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is besides portion of the national cognition successful Minnesota, said that a national serviceman changeable a Venezuelan antheral successful the limb connected Wednesday arsenic the migration raids continued.

The Minneapolis Fire Department besides said that a six-month-old babe and a kid were hospitalised connected Wednesday aft they sustained injuries from teardrop state deployed by ICE agents, according to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).

ICE manager Todd M Lyons said connected Wednesday that US national agents had arrested 2,500 radical since starting their cognition successful Minnesota.

However, quality rights advocates and ineligible observers person expressed concerns astir overcrowding and inhumane conditions successful the country’s migration detention facilities, arsenic good arsenic connected deportation flights.

Hundreds of Venezuelan men were deported to the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) maximum information situation successful El Salvador successful March 2025.

An exposure connected CECOT, which was reportedly delayed from airing connected CBS News’s 60 Minutes programme past month, prompting backlash, went to aerial connected Sunday night.

Minneapolis constabulary officers complaint astatine radical who kneel successful beforehand of them during an anti-ICE protestation extracurricular the Whipple Federal Building, successful Fort Snelling, Minnesota, connected January 15 [Plga Fedorova/EPA]

Insurrection Act

The potential deployment of troops to Minnesota comes aft the Pentagon sent some 700 US Marines to Los Angeles successful June and July successful effect to protests implicit assertive migration enforcement operations nether mode there, though the soldiers’ relation was constricted to guarding 2 national properties successful the greater Los Angeles area.

At the time, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a instrumentality from 1807, to broaden the soldiers’ role, but yet did not bash so.

Trump has again threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act successful caller days, this clip successful Minnesota, earlier appearing to locomotion backmost the menace a time later, telling reporters astatine the White House that determination was not a crushed to usage it “right now”.

“If I needed it, I’d usage it,” Trump said. “It’s precise powerful.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey connected Sunday described the 3,000 ICE and borderline power agents waging Trump’s crackdown connected undocumented immigrants arsenic an “occupying unit that has, rather literally, invaded our city”.

“It’s ridiculous, but we volition not beryllium intimidated by the actions of this national government,” Frey told CNN’s State of the Union connected Sunday. “It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s wholly unconstitutional.”

Thousands of Minneapolis citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights, and the protests person been peaceful, Frey said, referring to the conception of the US Constitution that covers state of code and the close to peacefully protest.

Governor Tim Walz has besides mobilised the Minnesota National Guard, though nary units person been deployed to the streets.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has said that the crackdown volition proceed “until we are definite that each the unsafe radical are picked up, brought to justness and past deported backmost to their location countries”.