US Pentagon orders troops to prepare for potential Minnesota deployment

According to US media reports, the Pentagon has instructed roughly 1,500 active duty soldiers from Alaska to be stationed in Minnesota, where extensive protests have been occurring against federal immigration raids.

Despite freezing conditions, two unnamed officials told Reuters on Sunday that two infantry battalions from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska and is trained in operating in arctic conditions, have received prepare-to-deploy orders to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul.

The Pentagon’s spokesman Sean Parnell stated in a statement sent to The Associated Press that “the military is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.” He did not deny that the orders were issued.

The development was first reported by ABC News.

Following the shooting death of Minneapolis resident and mother Renee Nicole Good, 37, in Minneapolis and St Paul, widespread protests are ongoing against violent tactics being used by nearly 3, 000 federal ICE agents in the cities.

As the raids drag on, more than one person has been injured, and ICE also reported on Sunday that a man died in ICE custody after being taken into custody in Minneapolis.

Twelve days after being detained in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, Nicaraguan national Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, died in ICE custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, according to a statement from the agency.

As the immigration raids continued, a federal officer shot a Venezuelan man in the leg, according to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is also a part of the federal operation in Minnesota.

According to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), a six-month-old baby and a six-month-old child were also taken to the hospital on Wednesday after being injured by ICE agents’ tear gas deployments.

Since starting their operation in Minnesota on Wednesday, US federal agents have detained 2,500 people, according to ICE director Todd M. Lyons.

However, human rights organizations and legal experts have expressed concerns about the detention facilities for immigrants and deportation flights’ overcrowding and inhumane conditions.

In March 2025, hundreds of Venezuelan men were taken to El Salvador’s Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) maximum security prison.

On Sunday night, a CECOT expose was scheduled to air after being reportedly delayed from CBS News’ 60 Minutes program last month, causing controversy.

Act of Insurrection

The potential deployment of troops to Minnesota comes after the Pentagon sent some 700 US Marines to Los Angeles in June and July in response to protests over the country’s ongoing aggressive immigration enforcement operations, despite the soldiers’ role being limited to securing two federal properties in the greater Los Angeles area.

At the time, Trump threatened to invoke the Act of Insurrection, a law from 1807, to broaden the soldiers’ role, but ultimately did not do so.

Trump has again threatened to invoke the Act of Insurrection in recent days, this time in Minnesota, before appearing to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there was not a reason to use it “right now”.

Trump remarked, “If I needed it, I’d use it.” It has a lot of power.

The 3, 000 ICE and border control agents waging Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants were referred to as an “occupying force that has literally invaded our city,” according to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Sunday.

Frey stated on Sunday during CNN’s State of the Union that it is “ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.” It is “completely unconstitutional,” according to the statement “it is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s not fair.”

Frey cited a section of the US Constitution that covers the right to peacefully protest and the freedom of speech, and he claimed that thousands of Minneapolis residents are exercising their First Amendment rights.

Although no units have been deployed to the streets, Governor Tim Walz has also mobilized the Minnesota National Guard.

Source: Aljazeera