White House border czar Tom Homan on Saturday outlined the Trump administration’s plan to deploy 1,700 National Guard members across 19 states to assist federal immigration authorities.
Homan told NewsNation correspondent Libbey Dean that the troops will serve as a “force multiplier” for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, supporting tasks such as transportation and intelligence gathering, but will not be involved in making arrests because, as members of the U.S. military, they are forbidden by federal law from taking part in civilian law enforcement duties.
“ICE is overwhelmed. ICE has less than 5,000 deportation officers. We’ve got well over 20 million illegal aliens,” Homan told NewsNation. “We’ve got almost 700,000 illegal aliens with criminal history that we’re trying to find.”
Homan said using National Guard personnel will free up Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to concentrate on locating migrants considered potentially dangerous for eventual deportation. The Pentagon previously announced the deployment plan, with the mission expected to continue at least through mid-November.
According to a Defense Department official who spoke to NewsNation, the Guard units will be sent to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
The National Guard deployment in support of ICE differs from the recent mobilization of troops to Washington, D.C., which the Trump administration initiated after President Donald Trump raised concerns about crime and conditions in the capital.
“This is a separate mission from the D.C. support mission. Additional questions on personnel support to ICE should be directed to the individual states supporting the mission,” the Pentagon spokesperson said.
