President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he has authorized Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to deploy troops to defend Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities — and to protect Portland specifically — from what the administration calls attacks by Antifa and other domestic extremist groups.
Trump said the directive followed a request from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and that he has authorized “full force, if necessary.” The president posted the announcement on Truth Social, writing that Hegseth should “provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
Portland’s ICE facility has been the scene of frequent clashes between federal agents and protesters; some demonstrators have been charged with assault, and protesters erected a mock guillotine near the site earlier this month. Federal officials say agents have faced an uptick in threats, doxxing and violent attacks, and several have been injured while on duty.
The White House move comes after a separate deadly incident this week in Dallas in which a gunman opened fire at an ICE processing site, killing one migrant detainee and injuring others before turning the weapon on himself. FBI investigators said the shooter intended to sow terror against ICE agents.
Department of Homeland Security officials and rank-and-file ICE sources have said assaults and threats against agents have surged in recent months. A DHS official quoted in coverage said assaults on agents have jumped sharply year over year, and some officers have begun covering their faces while making arrests to avoid being doxxed.
That trend has put the new California law — which would bar ICE agents from wearing face coverings during arrests — in the crosshairs. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the “No Secret Police Act” this month, prompting immediate pushback from federal officials. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the measure “despicable” and said it would put federal officers at risk; some ICE sources told reporters the state law would not curb agents’ efforts to mask for safety, noting federal authority supersedes state statutes.
Trump’s post framed the deployment as a direct response to escalating violence and as an effort to protect federal personnel and facilities from politically motivated attacks. The move signals a firmer federal posture toward demonstrations at immigration enforcement sites and escalates a broader, ongoing clash between the administration and critics of its immigration enforcement tactics.
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