Pentagon prepares 1,500 troops for Minnesota deployment amid anti-ICE violence

Roughly 1,500 active-duty troops are preparing for a possible deployment to Minnesota as protests continue over the federal government’s efforts to apprehend illegal immigrants.

According to a report by the Washington Post, Defense Department officials said a deployment remains an option if unrest escalates. The troops are assigned to two battalions within the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska. The units have been placed on prepare-to-deploy orders amid concerns about an increase of violence in Minnesota.

In a statement, the White House said it is not unusual for the Pentagon “to be prepared for any decision the President may or may not make.”

President Donald Trump has previously said he is considering invoking the Insurrection Act, a federal law that allows the president to take control of a state’s National Guard or deploy active-duty troops domestically in response to a “rebellion.” The law was last used in 1992, when President George HW Bush deployed troops to Los Angeles during riots following the Rodney King verdict.

On Thursday, Trump threatened to use the law if activists continue to attack Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

On Friday, however, Trump appeared to walk back the threat, saying there was no reason to implement the law “right now,” adding, “If I needed it, I’d use it.”

Local officials have continued to use rhetoric opposing ICE operations, with some siding publicly with activists who have taken to the streets. Tensions intensified after an ICE agent shot Renee Good, an activist who had blocked ICE operations and then drove her car in the direction of an agent.

Meanwhile, a recent Axios report said the Trump team is concerned about the political optics surrounding deportation efforts. The report noted that internal polling reviewed by the White House shows support for immigration policies declining, prompting some advisers to discuss “recalibrating” the administration’s approach to immigration.