national guard deployment – Artifex.News

Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Portland and Chicago are being sent home

admin — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 22:26:00 +0000

Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, are being sent home, and those who will remain will continue to stay off the streets amid court battles over their domestic mission by the Trump administration, a defence official said Monday (November 17, 2025).

The withdrawal of soldiers — sent from California and Texas — is part of a larger change to troop deployments after President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown in various cities with Democratic leadership. The official was not authorised to publicly discuss the issue and requested anonymity.

U.S. Northern Command said in a statement Sunday (November 16, 2025) it was “shifting and/or rightsizing” units in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago, although it said there would be a “constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city.”

In the coming days, 200 California National Guard troops currently deployed to Oregon will be sent home, and about 100 will remain in the Portland area doing training, the official said. The military also plans to cut the number of Oregon National Guard troops on deployment there from 200 soldiers to 100, the official said.

About 200 Texas National Guard troops in Chicago also are being sent home and about 200 soldiers will be on standby at Fort Bliss, an Army base that stretches across parts of Texas and New Mexico, the official said.

About 300 Illinois National Guard troops will remain in the Chicago area, also doing training, but they currently are not legally allowed to conduct operations with the Department of Homeland Security, the official said.

The official said the upcoming holiday season may have played a role in the change in deployments.

Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom, said Mr. Trump “never should have illegally deployed our troops in the first place.”

“We’re glad they’re finally coming home,” she wrote in an email. “It’s long overdue!”

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s office did not return calls for comment. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said the Trump administration doesn’t communicate its plans with state leaders and was still threatening to federalise more troops.

“This confirms what we have always known: This is about normalizing military forces in American cities,” Mr. Pritzker’s spokesman Matt Hill said in a statement Saturday (November 15, 2025).

Mr. Hill didn’t immediately return a message left Monday (November 17, 2025).

Democratic cities targeted by Mr. Trump for military involvement — including Chicago, which filed a separate lawsuit on the issue currently before the U.S. Supreme Court — have been pushing back. They argue the President has not satisfied the legal threshold for deploying troops and that doing so would violate states’ sovereignty.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut in Portland this month issued a permanent injunction blocking Mr. Trump from deploying troops in the city, saying he had failed to establish that he was legally entitled to do so. On Sunday (November 16, 2025), the administration filed an emergency motion seeking to put the ruling on hold while it appeals.

Separately, the Trump administration has stepped up immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina, expanding an aggressive campaign that’s been spearheaded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

National Guard deployments have been one of the most controversial initiatives of Mr. Trump’s second term, demonstrating an expanded willingness to use the military to accomplish domestic goals.

Troops, including active-duty Marines, were deployed to Los Angeles during immigration protests earlier this year.

The National Guard was also sent to Washington, D.C., where they were part of a broader federal intervention that Mr. Trump claimed was necessary because of crime problems.

The deployments later expanded to Portland and Chicago.

Although they don’t play a law enforcement role, members of the National Guard have been tasked with protecting federal facilities, particularly those run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

About 100 troops who have been in Los Angeles will remain on deployment, the defence official said.

Published – November 18, 2025 03:56 am IST

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President Trump’s policies spark protests in multiple U.S. cities on Labour Day

admin — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 01:25:00 +0000

People participate in a Labour Day protest in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on September 1, 2025. Protesters march through the streets in anticipation of DHS agents coming to Chicago to enforce immigration raids.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Protesters took to the streets in multiple U.S. cities on Labour Day to criticize President Donald Trump and demand a living wage for workers.

Demonstrations in Chicago and New York were organized by One Fair Wage to draw attention to the struggles labourers face in the U.S., where the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Chants of “Trump must go now!” echoed outside the President’s former home in New York, while protesters gathered outside a different Trump Tower in Chicago, yelling “No National Guard” and “Lock him up!” Large crowds also gathered in Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

People participate in a Labour Day protest in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., September 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

In New York, people gathered outside Trump Tower, which has become a magnet for protests and remains a prominent symbol of the President’s wealth, even though the President hasn’t lived in the Manhattan skyscraper for years. Demonstrators waved signs and banners calling for an end to what they said is a fascist regime.

In Washington, a large crowd gathered with signs saying “Stop the ICE invasion” and an umbrella painted with “Free D.C. No masked thugs.” Hundreds more gathered at protests along the West Coast to fight for the rights of immigrants and workers.

Multiple groups joined together at the protests in Chicago to listen to speeches and lend their voices to the chants.

“We’re here because we’re under attack. We’re here because our core values and our democracy is under attack. We are here because they are threatening to send the military into our streets,” Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, told the crowd in Chicago as he urged them to stand up for workers.

At one point, a woman got out of a vehicle with Iowa plates in Chicago to shout “Long live Donald Trump” over and over again, resulting in a brief confrontation as the protesters responded with shouts of their own until the woman left a few minutes later.

Protest against crackdown on immigrants

In the crowd, Ziri Marquez said she came out because she’s concerned about overlapping issues in the U.S. and around the world, decrying anti-migrant attitudes in the U.S. and the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.

“I think especially, you know, when we’re dealing with low wages and we’re dealing with a stagnant economy, immigrants are largely used as a scapegoat,” said Marquez, 25.

Hundreds gather to protest the Trump Administration while calling for workers over billionaires in the Mission District in San Francisco, Calif., Monday, Sept. 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP

Along the West Coast from San Diego up to Seattle, hundreds gathered at rallies to call for a stop to the “billionaire takeover.” Groups supporting federal workers and unions marched in Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Portland, Oregon, in support of workers rights. Rally organizer May Day Strong said on its website that “billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy and building private armies to attack our towns and cities.” They called on people to take collective action to stop the takeover.

Portland protester Lynda Oakley of Beaverton told Oregolive.com that her frustrations with health care, immigration and Social Security inspired her to join the march.

“I am done with what’s happening in our country,” she said.

King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who took part in a demonstration at Seattle’s Cascade Playground, told KOMO News that they wanted to send a message of workers above billionaires.

“Workers should be more powerful than the small billionaire class,” she said.

Published – September 02, 2025 06:55 am IST

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