Pentagon Puts 1,500 Active-Duty Troops on Alert as Minnesota Protests Intensify

The Pentagon has placed roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers on standby for a potential deployment to Minnesota as early as Sunday, amid expanding protests against the federal government’s immigration enforcement campaign, according to a new report.

The Army reportedly issued the prepare-to-deploy orders as a contingency measure should confrontations between protesters and authorities turn more violent, marking the latest escalation in the administration’s warnings to demonstrators, the Washington Post reported.

According to the report, the orders were directed at two US Army infantry battalions assigned to the 11th Airborne Division, a unit based in Alaska whose forces are trained for operations in extreme cold-weather conditions.

The move follows President Trump’s public threat to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy military forces to Minnesota if state leaders are unable or unwilling to stop protesters from targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operating throughout the state.

Responding to reports that troops had been told to prepare, the White House emphasized that such planning was routine, saying it was not unusual for the Pentagon “to be prepared for any decision the President may or may not make,” according to the Washington Post.

Tensions between Minnesota residents and the federal government sharply escalated after heated demonstrations erupted in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7. Good was shot as she attempted to drive away after being ordered to exit her vehicle.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the president authorized the deployment of nearly 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents to Minneapolis and surrounding communities, significantly increasing the federal presence in the region.

Trump has repeatedly defended the large-scale deployment of immigration officers to Democrat-run cities, arguing that the operations are necessary to combat crime and restore public safety.

In Minnesota specifically, the president has also pointed to a multi-million-dollar fraud scandal involving the state’s social-welfare programs as justification for the intensified federal intervention.

Critics of the administration’s actions have accused Trump of abusing federal authority, arguing that he is using immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress political opposition.

After Trump’s threats to send in federal troops, Gov. Tim Walz ordered the mobilization of Minnesota’s National Guard to “support local law enforcement and emergency management agencies,” according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

While National Guard units have not yet been deployed on the streets, the department said the forces “are ready to help support public safety, including protection of life, preservation of property and supporting the rights of all who assemble peacefully,” according to an official statement.