The US president’s administration is preparing to send several hundred National Guard troops to Washington, an American official told Reuters.
According to the source, US President Donald Trump has not yet made a final decision. The number of troops and their role are still being determined, the official added.
The decision may have been made in light of Trump’s statements about moving homeless people away from Washington. At the time, he also said that criminals did not need to go anywhere, as they would be “put in jail, where they belong.” The president promised that all measures would be taken as quickly as in the case of illegal migrants.
In early March, Trump also demanded that Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser remove all tents with homeless people from the streets of the capital, as the District of Columbia “must be clean and safe.”
The American president used a similar tactic of sending in National Guard troops in Los Angeles in June. At that time, amid protests over conflicts between local residents and federal agents conducting an immigration enforcement operation, Trump decided to send 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
As The Washington Post reported in mid-April, the US administration intends to deport up to 1 million migrants during Trump’s first year in office.
