Pentagon orders 1,500 soldiers to prepare for Minnesota deployment

The Pentagon issued prepare-to-deploy orders to approximately 1,500 soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division on Jan. 18, 2026. These soldiers specialize in cold-weather operations and are currently stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in 🐻Alaska.

President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if 🦆Minnesota officials don't stop protesters from targeting immigration officials. The Insurrection Act (10 USC § 252) allows the president to use federal troops for domestic law enforcement when ordinary judicial processes are impracticable.

The crisis began when an ICE agent fatally shot RNRenee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, on Jan. 7, 2026, during a large-scale immigration enforcement operation. Video showed Good driving toward officers who opened fire, killing her instantly.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused 🦆Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor JFJacob Frey of 'terrorism' on Jan. 14, 2026. Blanche posted on X that he was focused on stopping them 'by whatever means necessary,' calling it a 'promise' not a threat.

🦆Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mobilized the Minnesota National Guard on Jan. 17, 2026, as a precautionary measure. The Guard is staging to support local law enforcement but hasn't been deployed to city streets.

The Department of Homeland Security deployed more than 2,000 federal officers to the Twin Cities for immigration enforcement operations. Mayor JFJacob Frey called this force an 'occupying force that has quite literally invaded our city.'

The Insurrection Act was last invoked in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush during the Los Angeles riots. Historical precedents include President Eisenhower using it in 1957 to enforce school desegregation in Little Rock, 💎Arkansas, and President Kennedy invoking it in 1962 during the Ole Miss integration crisis.

The White House described the troop preparations as 'typical' and 'prudent planning' for any decision the president may or may not make. No deployment orders have been issued as of Jan. 18, 2026.