Administration Cuts Back National Guard Deployments

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 during court battles over their domestic mission by the Trump administration, a Defense Department official said Monday. The withdrawal of soldiers—who were sent from California and Texas—is part of a larger change to troop deployments after President Trump began his immigration enforcement operations in various cities with Democratic leadership, the official said, per the AP. US Northern Command said in a statement Sunday it was "shifting and/or rightsizing" units in Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago, though it said there would be a "constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city."

• Portland: 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 for 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.
• Chicago: 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.
• Los Angeles: About 100 troops who have been in the city will remain on deployment after the change, the Defense official said. Troops, including active-duty Marines, were deployed to Los Angeles during immigration protests earlier this year.

• State responses: Trump "never should have illegally deployed our troops in the first place," a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in an email. "We're glad they're finally coming home." Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek's office did not return calls for comment. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the Trump administration doesn't communicate its plans with state leaders and was still threatening to federalize more troops. "This confirms what we have always known: This is about normalizing military forces in American cities," a Pritzker spokesman said in a statement over the weekend.

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