(Washington) Two hundred soldiers of the National Guard will be deployed in Portland, Oregon, the Defense Department announced on Monday, as part of Donald Trump’s campaign against crime targeting major democratic cities.
The soldiers “will be immediately called upon to serve at the federal level for 60 days to protect the agents of ICE (the immigration police, editor’s note) and other officials who exercise federal missions,” said Pentagon Senan Parnell spokesperson in a statement.
Donald Trump, who has already deployed the army in the democratic cities of Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis, threatened in early September to send the National Guard to Portland, the scene of major demonstrations in 2020, during his first mandate, after the death of George Floyd, an African-American killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.
By ordering this deployment on Saturday in Portland, who has been experiencing demonstrations against the immigration police for several months, the American president authorized “the use of the maximum force if necessary”.
The authorities of the State of Oregon filed a complaint on Sunday to prevent it, affirming that this decision “was motivated by its desire to normalize the use of the army for ordinary activities of maintaining internal order”, in particular in the courts of their political adversaries.
In their complaint, Oregon authorities also said that it was not necessary to deploy the National Guard to Portland because, contrary to what Donald Trump said, the demonstrations against ICE were peaceful and small.
Donald Trump erected the fight against illegal immigration in absolute priority, evoking an “invasion” of the United States by “criminals from abroad” and communicating abundantly on expulsions, of which the ICE is one of the main instruments.
