The Trump administration authorized the deployment of National Guard units at immigration facilities, escalating its use of the military as part of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In a private memo obtained by The New York Times, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials informed field offices that the National Guard would be deployed to assist in “alien processing” — the term used by immigration officials for paperwork done before placing immigrants in detention. It added that ICE leadership would “direct” the troops assigned to the mission.
The National Guard troops would be deployed in 20 states with Republican governors, including Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Texas and Louisiana, according to a Defense Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deployment of the National Guard troops — part of a reserve military force controlled by individual states — appears to be aimed at allowing military units to directly participate in federal immigration enforcement.
A statement from the Pentagon last week outlined a plan to swap Marine Corps and Naval Reserve units supporting ICE with National Guard troops that would be allowed to have “direct interaction with individuals in ICE custody.” The statement said that about 1,700 troops have now been authorized to assist ICE. The first deployments of National Guard troops were scheduled for early August, according to the ICE memo.
The use of the military for civilian law enforcement is limited as part of the Constitution’s protections for civil liberties and state sovereignty. But state governments maintain the authority to keep order within their borders — a power given to them under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 — and Republican governors have previously deployed National Guard troops to assist in border control.
The deployment of the National Guard to ICE facilities would more directly meld military operations with the agency’s domestic law enforcement duties. The ICE memo said National Guard troops would directly assist ICE agents with “administrative and clerical tasks, field office program management, case management and transportation.”
The memo did not authorize the National Guard to take part in immigration raids directly, but replacing ICE agents in clerical roles with National Guard troops would free those agents to participate in enforcement duties.
ICE has also established a “strategic planning task force” that will coordinate the deployment of the National Guard troops, according to the memo.
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security requested more than 20,000 National Guard troops to help with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, following a request by Mr. Trump to increase D.H.S. ranks by pulling in thousands of officers from state or federal agencies.
The moves to bolster immigration enforcement capacity are part of a wider push to increase deportations and arrests to meet Mr. Trump’s promises of “mass deportations,” which the administration has not met thus far.
Immigration arrests require extensive resources, including ample time for surveillance, and the Trump administration has laid out ambitious long-term plans to expand ICE, after Congress more than tripled the agency’s budget from about $8 billion to roughly $28 billion.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades.
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