More than 150 Puerto Rico National Guard soldiers are patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., without justification

San Juan, P.R. – Even though there is no real emergency or pressing need, more than 150 Puerto Rico National Guard troops continue to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C.—an unjustified deployment that must be called off by Governor Jenniffer González Colón, stated the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Puerto Rico.

“There is absolutely no reason for Puerto Rico’s troops to be patrolling the streets of the U.S. capital, serving as part of a propaganda exercise through which President Trump is attempting to create an atmosphere of fear,” stated attorney Annette Martínez Orabona, Executive Director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

“The governor should never have activated our troops for such actions in the first place. And now, more than a year after the massive patrols in Washington, D.C., began, it is time for González Colón to order the withdrawal of our troops so they can return home,” said Martínez Orabona.

As of this Wednesday, at least 153 Puerto Rico National Guard troops remained active in the U.S. capital, according to data from the Washington, D.C. National Guard. In an open letter to the public, the ACLU—along with its affiliates, the Puerto Rico Chapter and the ACLU of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.)—demanded the withdrawal of National Guard troops from the U.S. capital.

This summer, at the height of the deployment, more than 4,000 National Guard troops from 15 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia patrolled Washington, D.C. neighborhoods. This presence began in August 2025, when President Trump deployed the D.C. National Guard.

In the case of D.C., the president controls its National Guard and, together with the Secretary of Defense, can ask governors to voluntarily make National Guard troops from their jurisdictions available for specific federal missions. Governors have the authority to reject these requests, and many have done so over the past year.

“With every passing day that the governor fails to order the withdrawal of our troops, she becomes complicit in the shameful act of hyper-surveillance, fear, and control that President Trump promotes against American citizens themselves,” stated the executive director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

For more than a year, D.C. residents have encountered armed National Guard troops in military uniforms on the streets and sidewalks in front of their homes, schools, and local businesses. This presence does not increase safety in the city; on the contrary, it fuels the atmosphere of fear and intimidation created by President Trump’s discriminatory and anti-immigrant policies.

The letter also warns that deploying troops in the nation’s capital could normalize the use of military forces against the population within the United States. Cases have already been documented in which National Guard troops have discriminated against and violated the rights of residents of the federal district. In May, the ACLU-D.C. filed a lawsuit on behalf of Anna King, a combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was assaulted by National Guard troops outside her home in the capital.

“Armed National Guard troops are neither needed nor wanted in the District. In the absence of a genuine emergency, National Guard members should be at home, in their communities, with their families,” stated Mónica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU-D.C. Estimates indicate that troop deployments could cost taxpayers $1.7 billion by the end of 2026, at a time when families in Puerto Rico and the United States are facing rising costs across the board.

Prolonged deployments can also reduce the availability of Puerto Rico National Guard members to address other critical needs, such as disaster response.

“These military troops are patrolling the nation’s capital as a show of force, intended to threaten and intimidate us. But we will not be cowed. We must continue to speak out against this flagrant abuse of executive power,” said Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the ACLU.

You can view and download the letter at this link:

https://www.acludc.org/app/uploads/2026/08/ACLU_Dear_Americans_-No-Troops-in-Our-Nations-Capital.pdf