WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division were given prepare-to-deploy orders. The unit is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions.
One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement.
The report comes days after Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell protests against his administration’s immigration crackdown. On Thursday, Trump said in a social media post that he would invoke the 1807 law “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.”
Trump appeared to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there wasn’t a reason to use it “right now.” In the same remarks, he said, “If I needed it, I’d use it,” and added, “It’s very powerful.”
The article also said Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act throughout both of his terms, including in 2020 to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months as a response to immigration protests.
The Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny that the orders had been issued, and said in an emailed statement that the military “is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.” ABC News was described as the first to report the development.
The Insurrection Act was most recently invoked by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 to end unrest in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King, according to the report.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged the president to refrain from sending in more troops. Walz said on social media, “I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” urging a reduction in the pressure around the operation.