Bondi and Hegseth rally federal agents and troops in Memphis as part of crime task force

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Wednesday rallied members of a federal law enforcement task force that has begun operating in Memphis as part of President Donald Trump's crime-fighting plan for the city.

The officials met with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican who has supported the project, before touring a staging area for the Memphis Safe Task Force and then speaking to a group of federal, state and local law enforcement officers and Tennessee National Guard members.

Miller called the task force an “all of government, unlimited support operation” that would make the city “safer than any of you could ever possibly imagine.” He predicted that “businesses and investment are going to pour in, and Memphis will be richer than ever before.”

“We’re not here to second guess you,” Hegseth told them. “We’re here to have your back — to unleash you to do your jobs so you come home safely.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents Memphis in Congress, said he was disappointed to learn about the visit in the media. In a letter to Hegseth and Bondi, he urged them to be more collaborative and expressed concern about the “wartime rhetoric” coming from the Trump administration.

“Memphians are not enemies; they are Americans,” Cohen said. “They are entitled to constitutional rights, not their government working to ‘intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill’ them. We are not a training ground or target practice.”

The task force is part of a larger effort by Trump to use National Guard troops and surge federal law enforcement in cities, particularly ones controlled by Democrats. Following troop deployments in the District of Columbia and Los Angeles, he referred to Portland, Oregon, as “war-ravaged” and threatened apocalyptic force in Chicago. Speaking Tuesday to U.S. military leaders in Virginia, Trump proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces.

Bondi said in a social media post earlier in the day that the task force has made more than 50 arrests over a two-day period. More than 200 officers have been deputized, including personnel from immigration and drug enforcement. They are serving criminal arrest warrants and teaming with state agencies on traffic stops.

Memphis should expect to see an increase in warrant enforcement, especially for violent criminals, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Guay said in an email. The Marshals Service will release periodic updates that include arrest numbers, types of charges and participating agencies, he said.

Tennessee National Guard troops will help Memphis Police, Lee has said, but it is unclear how soon that will begin. Lee does not expect more than 150 National Guard members to be sent to Memphis. The city has said there will be no tanks, and the governor said troops will not make arrests or be armed unless local authorities request it.

Memphis has experienced high numbers of violent crimes such as carjackings and homicides in recent years, but both Democratic and Republican officials have noted decreases this year in some crime categories.

Opponents of the deployment say it is an unnecessary federal occupation of a majority-Black city that instead needs more funding to address poverty and other drivers of crime. Supporters see it as a welcomed infusion of law enforcement for a city that still needs help battling violence.

Across the country in Oregon, meanwhile, members of that state's National Guard reported for duty Wednesday. The troops were “preparing to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property in Oregon,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

It could be several days before they are deployed to federal buildings, the Oregon Military Department’s director for government and legislative affairs, Russell Gibson, told state lawmakers Tuesday. The troops will come from a military police company and an infantry company, he said.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is attempting to block the deployment, with a hearing in the case scheduled for Friday.

Federal agents have conducted hundreds of immigration arrests in Chicago since last month, primarily through traffic stops and targeting day laborers and homes in predominantly Latino and immigrant-heavy neighborhoods.

At least 37 people were arrested early Tuesday at an apartment building in the predominantly Black South Shore neighborhood. The location was chosen due to alleged connections to the Tren de Aragua gang, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Immigrant rights activists called it further escalation of an operation that has seen armed Border Patrol agents make arrests at famous downtown landmarks. Illinois leaders say they are also bracing for the administration to dispatch military troops.

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Loller reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press writers Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed.