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National Guard of Memphis, U.S. Crimefighting
This informative essay examines the 2025 deployment of the National Guard in Memphis as part of a federal anti-crime initiative under President Donald Trump. It explains the political context, the legal challenges that emerged, and the impact of the deployment on local communities. The essay also explores how the operation revealed tensions between federal and state authority in domestic security matters. It is written as an undergraduate informative essay in the Politics discipline.
November 21, 2025
* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.
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National Guard of Memphis, U.S. Crimefighting
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National Guard of Memphis, U.S. Crimefighting
The application of the military units to local crimes by President Donald Trump in 2025
in Memphis, Tennessee, as part of an even greater anti-crime operation, has been an issue. This
action, which was an attempt to curb violence on the streets, was soon subject to legal scrutiny,
which resulted in a court decision that paralyzed the operation. The 2025 National Guard
operation in Memphis under the crime-fighting task force of President Trump, though actually
aimed at improving the safety of the population, was found by a Tennessee court to be illegal,
indicating critical cracks within the federal-state powers and raising the question of militarization
of domestic law enforcement.
Background and Deployment Details
The history of the Memphis deployment is related to the fact that violent crime problems
in the city, in terms of assaults, carjackings, and murders, are not new to Memphis (NBC News,
2025). Despite some positive statistics presented in 2025, e.g., a 14.3% decrease in murders, the
city officials and residents noted that the issue of violence was still an issue (Memphis Police
Department, 2025). In September 2025, President Trump established the Memphis Safe Task
Force, an initiative by executive order that combined federal agencies (such as the FBI and DEA)
with state and local police to combat violent criminals (Action News 5, 2025). In this, Trump
ordered the Tennessee National Guard to be activated, under Title 32 authority, and Republican
Governor Bill Lee approved it, putting the Guard under what is termed a critical support role,
without arrest authority (NBC News, 2025).
The national guard was employed on October 10, 2025, and approximately 150 guards
were deployed to patrol neighborhoods, commercial areas, and other landmarks of the city, such
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as the downtown Pyramid (NBC News, 2025). Wearing camouflage fatigues and protection vests
that said military police, with holstered guns, these troops were more of a presence and logistical
support, and not an enforcement force. The entire task force recorded more than 2,500 arrests on
drug and weapons violations to immigration offences, and homicides, which the state officials
boasted of as a “generational opportunity” to protect the people with multi-level collaborations
(NBC News, 2025). Nevertheless, the lack of local agreement was noted when Memphis Mayor
Paul Young, who was a Democrat, insisted that he had not invited the involvement of the Guard.
This exercise was part of Trump’s larger policy of sending the National Guard to cities run by
Democratic leaders, which Trump termed as being overrun with crime, like in Chicago and
Portland, which faced opposition as well (Cochrane & McGee, 2025).
Impacts on Communities and Legal Problems
The presence of the Guard in Memphis had both positive and negative reactions.
Advocates stated that it enhanced security in the high-crime neighborhoods, which might keep
crimes away due to conspicuous deterrence (Action News 5, 2025). Critics, such as local
Democratic officials, however, were concerned with militarization as this might undermine the
civil liberties and the community-police relations in a city that has a record of racial tensions and
policing scandals. Among the plaintiffs of the subsequent lawsuit, Shelby County Mayor Lee
Harris felt grateful to the court to have intervened, as he considered the intervention to be a
protection of the rule of law (Action News 5, 2025). Economic/social implications were also
highlighted by the deployment, including federal resources flowing into the city at the expense of
over-policing minority communities (NBC News, 2025).
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Litigation problems arose at a rapid rate, and seven Democratic state and local officials
had to take their case to court against Governor Lee on the grounds that he had exceeded his
power (NBC News, 2025). The plaintiffs contended that Tennessee law limits Guard
mobilization to civil disturbances to instances of rebellion or invasion, which requires legislative
response, or to situations in which there is a request by a local government for the deployment in
a breakdown of law and order. They observed that no formal gubernatorial order was posted; a
mere news release was issued, and no local request was made. The state responded that the
counter-prerequisites are unnecessary since the governor, as commander-in-chief, is within her
own discretion to employ the Guard when it is appropriate (NBC News, 2025).
On November 17, 2025, the petitioners won and the judge found the deployment illegal
and granted a temporary injunction (Cochrane & McGee, 2025). The deployment broke the
military code of the state, and the plaintiffs would suffer severe harm (NBC News, 2025). The
order was, however, put on hold for five days to allow an appeal, something Tennessee Attorney
General Jonathan Skrmetti affirmed would be done, citing the effect it would have on the safety
of the people within the state. The deployment is suspended, awaiting appeal, as of November
19, 2025; it is one of a series of legal losses to the crime-fighting methods of Trump (Cochrane
& McGee, 2025).
Implications for U.S. Policy
This case has wider implications for federal-state relations in fighting crime. It outlines
the role of the Insurrection Act and state military codes in restraining domestic use of power by
the military to avoid possible abuses of power (NBC News, 2025). It can influence other similar
deployments, which intensifies the backlash by Democratic governors, and makes an appeal to
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more elaborate federal guidelines. Politically, it brings out partisan differences. Republicans view
it as the need to remain safe, whereas democrats view it as a grab that would be regarded as a
threat to democracy. In the long term, it may lead to a legislative shift in Tennessee and the entire
country, with consideration of the relative importance of security requirements and civil rights.
Conclusion
The use of the National Guard in the anti-crime effort scheduled in Memphis in 2025
under the circumstances of the Trump administration was destined to end the violence in
Memphis, but it did not happen, and it was defiant of a court ruling to suspend the effort. As
stated in the thesis, this episode illuminates the conflicts of authority and the threat of
militarization of law enforcement, and requests policymakers to concentrate on mutually
constitutionally sufficient approaches. Dialogue and reform will be critical in resolving such
tensions in the future without necessarily subverting the democratic principles in crimefighting.
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References
Action News 5. (2025, November 18). Tennessee court orders halt to National Guard deployment
in Memphis. https://www.actionnews5.com/2025/11/18/tennessee-court-orders-halt-
national-guard-deployment-memphis/
Cochrane, E., & McGee, J. (2025, November 17). Tennessee judge temporarily blocks National
Guard deployment in Memphis. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/
2025/11/17/us/politics/national-guard-memphis-ruling.html
Memphis Police Department. (2025, September 9). Memphis crime drops to historic 25-year low
across major categories. https://www.memphispolice.org/news/memphis-crime-drops-to-
historic-25-year-low-across-major-categories/
NBC News. (2025, November 17). Tennessee judge rules National Guard deployment in
Memphis is unlawful. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tennessee-judge-rules-
national-guard-deployment-memphis-unlawful-rcna244552
November 21, 2025
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Academic level:
Undergraduate 1-2
Type of paper:
Informative essay
Discipline:
Political Science
Citation:
APA
Pages:
3 (825 words)
Spacing:
Double
* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.
