The Department of Homeland Security is asking for 20,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to assist with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
Military personnel are already deployed in some stretches of the Arizona-Mexico border and in a newly-designated military zone in New Mexico.
But this deployment would be to the interior of the country, according to reporting from the AP.
It’s not clear yet whether the troops would be under the direction of the states or the federal government. William Banks is a professor emeritus at Syracuse University who specializes in military issues. He says that’s a key question.
“Because if they’re deployed by a governor, the posse comitatus law doesn’t apply. The presumption that the military can’t be involved in law enforcement goes away,” he said. "They can enforce the law in the same way that a cop or a sheriff could. The second thing that matters about whether it’s state or federal is, who picks up the cost?”
Banks says whichever entity deploys the troops will likely pay for them as well. A spokesperson with the Arizona National Guard said it hasn’t received any request from DHS or Gov. Katie Hobbs.
About 45 of the state’s National Guard troops are already working on a Southwest border mission to combat drug trafficking. The state’s active duty mission in Nogales includes about 40 troops.
DHS did not respond to questions about the nature of the deployment or where it would be. But in an email statement, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the troops would help carry out the “President’s mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens.”
“The Department of Homeland Security will use every tool and resource available to get criminal illegal aliens including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and other violent criminals out of our country. The safety of American citizens comes first,” she said.
As the AP reports, the Pentagon is currently considering the DHS request.
