Trump border czar Tom Homan has said that the administration is planning to use the National Guard more broadly as it enacts its tough-on-illegal-immigration agenda.
The National Guard “can’t make immigration arrests, but they can certainly augment for security, transportation, infrastructure, intelligence,” Homan told The Washington Post.
The Department of Homeland Security made a request a month before President Donald Trump federalized the National Guard and sent troops to California for 20,000 National Guard members to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The National Guard would take part in tasks such as aiding ICE in catching fugitives and guarding detention centers, in addition to processing and transporting migrants, a memo obtained by The Post reveals. The Pentagon has stated that it is reviewing the request but has yet to decide how many troops to deploy.
Homan told the paper that he’s amenable to using the National Guard against protests if the situation is similar to the one in California. The protests in Los Angeles have been limited to a small number of locations and local leaders have argued that the federal response was unnecessary.
“If other cities go down the same path, I think that’s an option we should consider, absolutely,” said Homan. “As long as it’s peaceful protest we’re OK, but if it gets out of hand like it did in L.A., then the president will consider it on a case-by-case basis.”
A district judge ruled on Thursday night that the troop deployment was illegal; however, the decision was subsequently blocked by an appellate court later the same night.
The administration has been looking into using the National Guard for immigration enforcement purposes “for months,” said Homan. He didn’t say who came up with the idea.
The partnership between ICE and the National Guard in Los Angeles has already been activated. About 500 troops have been trained to follow ICE agents as they conduct raids, officials have revealed. The troops have provided security for immigration detentions this week.
Roughly 13,000 troops are guarding the southern border, and officials have said that the administration is considering using military bases to develop detention centers. Recently, officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense have toured several bases, including Travis Air Force Base in California, Fort Walker in Virginia, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.
However, this would lead to the U.S. military being more closely involved in immigration enforcement than previously, going against legal limitations that restrict troops from taking part in domestic law enforcement.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine sent his state’s National Guard to the southern border during his tenure as governor, under the presidency of George W. Bush. Speaking to The Post, he said there’s a difference between troops supporting border operations and taking part in immigration arrests elsewhere in the country.
“I think it’s a very bad idea to use military for that,” said Kaine. “People want to believe that the military is there to protect this nation, and they don’t want to think it’s being weaponized against them.”
Kaine asked why the government wouldn’t use other federal agents to work with ICE.
“The answer is they are trying to intimidate people,” he claimed. “They know a military presence is more intimidating, but that means it’s also more likely to lead to an escalation problem.”
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We very much support President Trump’s focus on defending the homeland on our southern border, as well as supporting law enforcement officials doing their job in ICE in Los Angeles.”
Hegseth also stated that the National Guard could be deployed in other cities to counter potential anti-deportation protests.
