President Donald Trump’s decision to send the U.S. military into American cities to bolster local law enforcement has already cost taxpayers $473 million and counting, according to a report.
Data published by the non-partisan research group the National Priorities Project, and reported by The Intercept, based on open-source information, estimates that the occupation of Washington, D.C., which began in August, has been the most costly so far, at $270 million.
The D.C. deployment was called into question from the outset, given that the capital’s falling crime rate entirely contradicted Trump’s claims about crime in the city, and National Guard members were soon reported to have so little to do that they were reduced to clearing trash from the streets.
The next most expensive deployment, according to the NPP, was the $172 million spent on sending soldiers into Los Angeles, which began in June in response to anti-ICE demonstrations in the downtown area.
Other costly missions include sending forces to Portland, Oregon, which came with a price tag of approximately $15 million, as well as to Chicago, $13 million, and Memphis, $3 million.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Independent: “Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like [JB] Pritzker and Newscum [Gavin Newsom] have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets. President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”
The Independent also contacted the Department of War for comment on the figures.
The president has recently indicated a willingness to expand the program, saying he could “send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines – I could send anybody I wanted” into U.S. cities, citing the Insurrection Act of 1807 as his justification, a potent but rarely used emergency power that he has falsely claimed was used by one of his unnamed predecessors 28 times during their presidency.
No commander-in-chief has invoked the act more than the six times Ulysses S Grant did, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Trump has specifically named Baltimore, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, St Louis, San Francisco, and Seattle as possible following targets for his law and order agenda.
Responding to the data, Iraq veteran and Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said: “If Donald Trump is burning through hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on his authoritarian campaign of intimidation, the American people deserve to know about it.
“Federal judges across the country – including a Trump appointee – have ruled that these deployments are not justified, and thus not only wasteful, but also illegal and unconstitutional, and our National Guard troops did not sign up to police their own neighbors or be used as political pawns.”
Duckworth was alluding in her comments to Oregon District Judge Karin Immergut, who ruled Friday that Trump’s federalization of 200 Oregon National Guard members and deployment of federalized California and Texas Guards to an ICE facility in Portland exceeded his statutory authority and violated the 10th Amendment’s protections for state sovereignty.
A federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit have both blocked Trump’s attempt to federalize state troops and send them into Chicago and its suburbs, prompting the administration to file an emergency stay request with the Supreme Court.
Duckworth is one of 11 members of the upper chamber who approached the Congressional Budget Office late last month, requesting an independent assessment of the projected cost of deploying federalized National Guard units for “domestic security operations,” but has yet to receive an answer because of the government shutdown.
“Why is the Trump administration refusing to be transparent about how much money it’s spending on this political stunt?” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has said of the issue after putting her name to the same information request. “People don’t need troops in their backyard – they need healthcare, housing, and cheaper groceries.”
As part of Trump’s moves to crack down on illegal immigration, members of the National Guard have been activated in seven states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas.
The U.S. military has issued a further order to the Guard in all 50 states and four territories to form “quick response forces” that can be sent out on demand to contain civil unrest, armed with batons, body shields, Tasers, and pepper spray.
The deployment of troops to Chicago has been one of the most contentious so far, with the raids on undocumented migrants yielding a reported 3,000 arrests since the start of September but provoking tensions at street level.
Confrontations with protesters have seen a person shot in an incident in which two cars were accused of ramming an agency van, a Presbyterian minister hit in the head with pepper balls, and tear gas fired in residential streets, creating a climate of fear among residents.
But it was reported Tuesday by The Chicago Tribune that federal agents may soon be leaving the Illinois metropolis after two months of “Operation Midway Blitz,” with Commander Gregory Bovino expected to go to take up another assignment as Border Patrol forces are redeployed and an on-call task force, composed of FBI personnel and U.S. attorneys, parts ways.
