After two months, the future of the deployment of the National Guard to Memphis remains unclear.

Since Oct.10, the National Guard has been patrolling the streets of Memphis as per President Donald Trump’s executive order. The deployment of troops to the city comes following Trump’s anti-crime agenda, which outlines his plans to target cities with high crime rates and send in federal soldiers to lower them. All of the cities targeted so far have had voters and leadership that lean heavily Democratic, though that could change.

Senior Marin Thompson said she is troubled by the governor’s decision to welcome the troops, and she fears for what it means in our city and beyond. 

“It’s an overreach of power by the governor, Bill Lee,” she said. “It’s [not] what Memphis needs to address our problems of crime.”

And she is not the only person who feels this way. 

Recently, a lawsuit against the guards being in Memphis was filed by Tennessee lawmakers. Some officials, including Shelby County mayor Lee Harris, are arguing that the National Guard’s military presence directly opposes the liberty and democracy the United States was founded on.

A hearing was held on Nov. 3 after a temporary restraining order on further National Guard deployment was denied. 

Even though Tennessee’s governor approved the National Guard being sent here, the court sided with the plaintiffs who argued that Memphis was not in a state of emergency that called for the troops.

Then, recently the State of Tennessee filed an appeal to challenge this decision. They believe Memphis’s claim has no basis. A decision has yet to be made. 

In the meanwhile, the National Guard has been spotted across the city, with sightings from Downtown all the way into East Memphis. They do not have the power of arrest, so most of their interactions with the public have been making rounds around high-crime areas of the city. 

For junior Caroline Brezina, the National Guard’s presence in Memphis is a more positive thing. 

“I think the reason for them being here makes sense because Memphis does have a lot of crime.” 

But it’s not clear how long the troops will be here. 

Looking at other cities where troops have been deployed may give clues. Memphis isn’t the only city affected by the National Guard, it’s one example of five cities who currently have troops deployed to them.

After several months in the city, the National Guard finally ran their course in Washington, D.C., with the Attorney General’s office asking for their occupancy in the city to be blocked. There is currently a ban being held in court in order to give the federal government time to appeal, so nothing has happened yet. Whether or not this is a guide for how long the troops will occupy Memphis cannot be said for certain. 

San Francisco, on the other hand, publicly denounced the National Guard, saying that they were not welcome in the city. Recently, however, when asked to respond to San Francisco’s resistance to the National Guard, President Trump claimed to have “unquestioned power” when it comes to troop deployment. 

That power has not gone unchallenged, however, so what Memphis deployment will look like in the future remains to be seen.