Soldiers are on standby for possible deployment in Minneapolis, a US defense official told CBS News, the BBC’s US affiliate.
The official said that the 1,500 soldiers, who are currently in Alaska, is an option for the US president if he decides to use active duty military personnel, while anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations continued in the city on Saturday.
No decision has been made yet on whether to deploy troops from Alaska, the official said.
Minnesota officials urge protesters to remain orderly and peaceful during demonstrations after an ICE agent US citizen Renee Good was shot dead earlier this month.
The soldiers are part of the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Wainwright, the official added.
It comes as a US federal judge issued an order limiting the detention tactics that ICE agents can use to “peaceful and non-obstructive” protesters in Minneapolis.
Judge Katherine Menendez previously ruled that federal agents cannot arrest or pepper-spray peaceful demonstrationsincluding those who monitor or observe ICE agents.
The state’s National Guard was mobilized and put on alert by Governor Tim Walz, and other law enforcement officials were sent to Minneapolis ahead of the anti-ICE demonstrations.
Recent protests in the city have been sparked by widespread ICE action in the city, and in the wake of Good’s death on January 7.
City leaders say Good is there as a legal observer of ICE activity.
But the Trump administration has called him a “domestic terrorist”.
Good’s death sparked protests across the country, with many people holding signs that read “Justice for Renee”.