The standby orders mark a potential escalation in the federal government’s use of military force in connection with immigration enforcement, and come as President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th-century law that would allow him to employ active-duty troops as law enforcement inside the United States.
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to be ready for possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a large-scale immigration enforcement operation, two defense officials said Sunday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans. They said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders.
The 11th Airborne Division is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions. One of the officials 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.
ABC News was the first to report the standby orders.
Pentagon response
In an emailed statement, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny the orders were issued. The military “is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon,” Parnell said.
Trump’s threat and partial retreat
On Thursday, Trump posted on social media 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.”
He appeared to walk back the threat a day later. Telling reporters at the White House that there was not a reason to use the act at that moment, Trump said: “If I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful.”
Historical use of the law
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. Trump also threatened to invoke the act in 2020 in response to protests following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police, and has renewed those threats in recent months in connection with immigration protests.
Governor’s appeal
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, urged the president to refrain from sending in additional troops. “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,” Walz said last week on social media.