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Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, has vowed to sue the Trump administration over its decision to deploy 300 military personnel from his state to the streets of Portland, Oregon.
Trump stepped up the military presence in Democrat-run states over the weekend by sending troops to Illinois and authorising another deployment to Oregon, which he claimed was being overrun by “agitators” and “insurrectionists”.
Trump authorised California National Guard troops to be sent to Portland after a federal judge blocked his attempt to deploy the Oregon National Guard there, Newsom said in a statement.
“They are on their way there now,” the California governor said.
He described Trump’s order as “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power” and “authoritarian conduct”.
“The commander-in-chief is using the US military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court,” Newsom said.
Trump, who has described Portland as “war-ravaged”, has justified his efforts in recent months to send the US military into politically liberal American cities as a step necessary to combat crime and illegal immigration.
Trump has alleged that cities including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Portland have become overrun with violent crime at the hands of illegal immigrants and leftist radicals, a characterisation disputed by local officials.
“Washington, DC went from a hell hole to a safe place,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
“It took 12 days to solve the problem. And we’re going to do that in Chicago. We’re going to do that in Portland.”
Hundreds of protesters have marched on the streets of Portland and elsewhere to protest against Trump’s immigration raids, which have swept up US citizens, permanent residents and visa-holders in addition to those without legal status.
A federal judge ordered a temporary restraining order on Saturday against the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to Portland on the grounds that Trump’s determination that they were necessary “was simply untethered to the facts”.
Trump also authorised on Saturday that 300 National Guard troops be deployed to Illinois over the objections of the state’s Democratic governor and local leaders.
“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Illinois Democratic governor JB Pritzker said.
Democrats have accused Trump of using the US military to intimidate and punish his political rivals, but Republican lawmakers defended the deployments.
“In a few of these blue states, in deep blue cities that are run by soft-on-crime mayors, they need some help,” Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, told NBC News on Sunday.
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