According to the Trump administration, they are deploying these federal troops to protect government property, particularly the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in downtown Portland. Approximately 200 National Guard service members are currently awaiting a court ruling on whether they will be deployed.

That’s a dramatic departure from the kinds of charges people faced in mid-June, when protests at the ICE facility were at their most tumultuous. At that time, Portland police arrested people for crimes such as throwing rocks at the ICE building, shoving officers and trying to light fires.

President Trump and several others now high up in his second administration have been talking about using the National Guard to help with mass deportations — and possibly invoking the Insurrection Act — for years.