Attorney General Bondi touts Memphis arrests during federal deployment as US, state officials meet

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi met with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in Memphis on Wednesday, shortly after a task force of federal law enforcement agencies ordered by President Donald Trump began operating in the city.

Video from a media pool showed Hegseth arriving by plane and shaking hands with Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has supported the law enforcement surge. Bondi was also present.

Bondi said in a social media post that the Memphis Safe Task Force has made more than 50 arrests over a two-day period. The agents, who include personnel from immigration and drug enforcement, have begun serving criminal arrest warrants while teaming with state agencies like the Tennessee Highway Patrol to make traffic stops on interstates and state roads. Bondi said more than 200 officers were deputized.

The task force is part of a larger effort by President Donald Trump to use National Guard troops and surge federal law enforcement in American cities, particularly ones controlled by Democrats.

Trump has called the move necessary and attacked Democrats on crime and immigration policies. Following a the use of National Guard troops in the District of Columbia and Los Angeles, he referred to Portland, Oregon, as “war-ravaged” and threatened apocalyptic force in Chicago.

Mobile command centers for the U.S. Marshals Service and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have been set up at a staging area for the task force. A Marshals spokesperson said the service will release periodic updates that include arrest numbers, types of charges and participating agencies.

“With the addition of federal resources in Memphis, including enhanced interagency collaboration, it’s reasonable to expect an increase in warrant enforcement activity, particularly targeting violent offenders who pose a threat to public safety,” Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Guay said in an email to The Associated Press.

The task force also includes the Tennessee National Guard. Lee has said he would not expect more than 150 National Guard members to be sent to Memphis, though the numbers have not been solidified. The city has said there will be no tanks, and the governor said guard troops will not make arrests or be armed unless local authorities request it.

It’s unclear when guard members will begin their work with the Memphis Police Department. Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said during a town-hall meeting Tuesday evening that it could be a couple of weeks.

Memphis has experienced high numbers of violent crimes such as carjackings and homicides in recent years, but both Democratic and Republican officials have noted that the city is seeing 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, despite recent improvements in crime statistics, 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.

And in Chicago, federal agents have conducted hundreds of immigration arrests 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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Associated Press writers Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed.