In a federal lawsuit filed by the Democratic-run state, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quickly disputed the state’s order to send 200 Oregon National Guard soldiers to the state of Oregon.
The troops would be “called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days,” according to a memo signed by Hegseth and delivered to the state’s top military officer, the day after US President Donald Trump declared he wanted to send soldiers to “worship-ravaged Portland, the state’s capital.”
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In a conversation with the president on Sunday, Oregon’s governor, Democrat Tina Kotek, admitted to having an objection to the deployment.
She stated in a statement that “Oregon is our home and not a military target.”
Soon after state officials received the memo, Democratic Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield sued Hegseth, Trump, and US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in federal court in Portland on Sunday.
“What we’re seeing is not about public safety,” Rayfield  asserted. The president is using his political slam dunk to attack the media at the expense of our community, according to the article.
In the US, the National Guard is a state-based reserve military force that can be called upon to perform active duty. It also supports military operations abroad and typically responds to domestic emergencies like civil unrest and natural disasters.
Trump stated in a social media post on Saturday that he had directed the Pentagon to send all necessary Troops to protect Portland, and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attacks by Antifa and other domestic terrorists, despite the fact that the memo does not specifically mention Portland as the target of the proposed deployment.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s division is under the Homeland Security Department.
Trump continued, “I am also allowing Full Force,” if necessary.
According to the CATO Institute, people with right-wing ideologies have been to blame for 54 percent of politically motivated murders in the nation since 2020, more than double the number that has been attributed to the left, despite the Trump administration’s pledge to crack down on Antifa, a loosely affiliated left-wing anti-fascist movement.
A deadly shooting occurred at an ICE facility in Texas just days before Trump’s announcement on Saturday. Trump blamed the “radical left” for the attack, which claimed one detainee was killed, and two others were seriously hurt in it, without providing any evidence.
Trump has mandated troop deployments to several states and cities where his political rivals, the Democratic Party, are in power.
After previous deployments to the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California, he has also ordered troops to be sent to , Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, Illinois.
Despite the crackdown, protests against the US government’s anti-immigration policies continue outside ICE facilities, where advocates claim that people are being held in degrading and crowded conditions as the Trump administration pushes for mass deportations.
Over the weekend, protesters gathered outside of an ICE building in Portland, some of whom wore colorful costumes.
After an earlier crowd had begun to disperse, less than 100 people were present at the protest outside the federal building in the city, which is home to some 635, 000 people.
Source: Aljazeera
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