Hundreds of National Guard troops that the federal government sent to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, Illinois, are being returned to their home states as the deployments face mounting legal and political hurdles, U.S. officials and multiple news outlets reported Monday.
A Defense Department official said the Pentagon is “shifting and/or rightsizing” forces in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago while emphasizing there will remain a “constant, enduring, and long-term presence” in those cities. All 200 California National Guard members currently in Portland will be sent home and Oregon’s federally controlled force there will be cut from about 200 to roughly 100, the official said. At the same time, 200 Texas Guard members sent to Chicago are also being returned, although some personnel will be placed on standby.
State and local leaders quickly welcomed the moves. A California governor’s spokesperson said the return of state troops was “long overdue,” and Oregon and Illinois officials have repeatedly criticized the federal deployments as unlawful and unnecessary. Several governors and mayors had challenged the federal orders in court, arguing that the administration exceeded its authority by federalizing state National Guard units for domestic operations.
Legal setbacks prompted the change. Federal judges in multiple jurisdictions have blocked, limited or enjoined aspects of the deployments after lawsuits from city and state officials; the administration has appealed some rulings to higher courts. In Portland, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction against the mobilization there — a decision the administration has appealed and a federal appeals court previously rejected a request to deploy guardsmen in parts of the Chicago area. Those rulings kept many federalized troops in a holding pattern and prevented them from conducting street operations.
Officials stressed that troops who remain will not be used on the streets while court battles continue. In Chicago, roughly 300 Illinois National Guard members are still listed as present for training purposes, but court orders bar them from working directly with Homeland Security or engaging in operational duties tied to the disputed domestic mission. Pentagon officials say some personnel will be retained in each city in a non-operational posture while legal questions are resolved.
The deployments ordered by the White House in recent weeks and framed by the administration as support for immigration enforcement and to counter rising crime in Democratic-run cities sparked intense political debate. Critics say the moves amounted to an attempt to normalize a federal military presence in U.S. cities and politicize the National Guard; supporters argue the forces were needed to protect federal personnel and property. With courts now weighing constitutional and statutory limits on such domestic uses of federalized Guard units, the immediate operational footprint of the deployments is shrinking even as the larger legal and political fights continue.
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