Avalos Responds to Trump Threat to Deploy National Guard

Portland, OR - Today Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos (District 1) issued the following statement in response to a press conference where President Trump suggested that he would deploy the National Guard to Portland:

Trump is using the same old tired playbook from 2020. We saw what happens when unidentified federal agents flood our streets. It causes harm, erodes public trust, and threatens marginalized communities. Under federal law, the National Guard can't be used for domestic policing without extraordinary circumstances, and a federal judge just ruled that Trump's deployment of the National Guard in L.A. was illegal.

Trump is trying to divert attention from the fact that his dangerous mass deportation agenda is deeply unpopular. Portlanders and Americans are seeing the stories of families ripped apart, immigrants detained in horrific conditions, and ICE violently harassing people who are just trying to live their lives. They see through the lies and propaganda that Trump and his cronies want you to believe.

I am not going to back down because the East Portlanders I represent are counting on me and other Oregon officials to protect our communities. When Trump sent federal agents to our city in 2020, he and his administration ultimately left as the losers. We're not going to let him win this time either.