Weekly Brief Feb. 2: Domestic Militarization Watch

February 2, 2026 

💸Trump’s National Guard Deployments to U.S. Cities Cost Taxpayers Nearly $500M in 2025

• A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that President Trump’s National Guard deployments to U.S. cities for immigration enforcement cost taxpayers roughly $496 million between June and December 2025 (ABC News, 29 Jan. 2026).
• Deployments began in June in Los Angeles after protests over ICE raids and expanded to Washington, D.C., Memphis, Portland, Chicago, and New Orleans, with D.C. accounting for the largest share of spending (CBS News, 29 Jan. 2026).
• Costs are likely understated: the estimates exclude the late-December New Orleans deployment and ongoing standby forces in Texas, while the CBO warns that continued or expanded deployments could exceed $1 billion in 2026, even amid legal challenges that have limited some missions. According to the CBO, members “who are mobilized and awaiting deployment while away from their home stations incur essentially the same costs as deployed personnel” (TIME, 29 Jan. 2026).
• The deployments, which the President has argued were needed to crack down on crime, have faced legal backlash, and sparked outrage from local and state leaders, as well as residents. Sen. Jeff Merkley and other lawmakers, argue these domestic military deployments represent a misuse of federal funds, undermine local governance, raise legal and constitutional concerns, and divert resources from community investment (NPR, 28 Jan. 2026).

⚖️Minnesota ICE Surge Continues — Judge Orders Release of 5-Year-Old From Detention, Federal Probe Opened Into Fatal Shooting

• A U.S. District Court judge ruled that a five-year-old Minneapolis boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father must be released from ICE detention in Texas, criticizing the administration’s immigration enforcement approach as harmful to children. Experts in immigration law claim that part of the reason why Liam was released so quickly from the Dilley detention center is because of the political pressure, while adding that there are thousands of other children who are still suffering (The Guardian, 1 Feb. 2026).
• The DOJ has launched a federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti by federal Border Patrol officers during the enforcement surge, amid contradictions between official accounts and video evidence (AP News, 30 Jan. 2026). 
• As ICE agents remain active in Minnesota, the administration has dispatched President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to oversee ongoing operations and defend enforcement tactics despite backlash. Homan publicly acknowledged internal changes made to federal immigration operations in Minnesota following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal officers, saying President Trump wants to “fix” immigration operations in the state. (The Hill, 29 Jan. 2026).