Pentagon and ice officials inspected military bases from New Jersey to California as potential sites for immigrant detention.
California officials take on Trump over National Guard deployment
California officials have accused President Donald Trump of burning protests by increasing federal response.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is considering a Department of Homeland Security’s request to deploy more than 20,000 additional National Guard forces to expand the collapse of the Trump administration against illegal immigrants around the United States, according to authorities and documents.
Homeland Security authorities want the military to help track fugitives, quell the riots at detention centers and search for unaccompanied children on remote or hostile terrain.
Meanwhile, patrols at the Pentagon and customs border have inspected military bases over the past few months, from New Jersey to California, as a potential location to detain a predicted influx of immigrants.
A year of working with 20,000 national security guards costs $3.6 billion, according to US officials who have been described as potential developments. However, it is unclear how many security guards will be available to meet the request, according to defense officials.
Defense or police?
The move will shift from a mission to protect the military from foreign enemies to protect the nation from foreign enemies, according to critics such as Sen. Jack Reid, a leading Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
Trump recently bolstered the Antee, ordered 4,000 California National Security Guards to Los Angeles, and deployed 700 active Marines to the city over Gov. Gavin Gavin Newsom’s objection. That deployment would cost $134 million.
“Using US military to assist in immigration enforcement at our own borders will threaten long-standing American principles of separating law enforcement from military force,” Reid said in a statement to USA Today. “This kind of move will erode civil liberties and set a dangerous precedent for militarizing American communities. I voted for billions of people in clever, concentrated immigration enforcement, but that’s the duty of law enforcement, not the military.”
On June 10, Defense Secretary Pete Hegses showed that the National Guard would soon play a greater role in domestic security. He told the House Committee that the United States entered a new “stage” and that the National Guard “will become an important component of the way we secure our homeland.”
“The National Guard is a huge part of how we see the future,” he said.
Immigration detention at a military base under consideration
In Fort Bliss, Texas, the Army has a facility that houses around 100 immigrants in detention facilities. Larger facilities are being built to accommodate as many as 5,000 people, according to US officials who have described the business but are not allowed to speak publicly.
Other bases considering immigration detention include McGuire Dix Lakehurst in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Travis Air Force Base and Camp Park in California, Fort Walker in Virginia, and Camp Atterbury in Indiana.
Officials visited the bases several months ago, but it is unclear whether they were selected to receive detainees, defense officials said.
Several locations at bases near major metropolitan areas such as New York City and San Francisco indicate that immigrants like Los Angeles could take place there, officials said.
Separately, the demand from Homeland Security calls for up to 21,000 National Guard troops for “supporting both illegal enforcement support functions and law enforcement activities.”
Military can support “internal immigration enforcement projects”
The southern border is home to thousands of National Guard and active duty forces. However, a memo reviewed by USA Today acknowledges it is the first formal request by US immigration and customs enforcement agencies to deploy national staff “to support internal immigration enforcement projects.”
ICE is implementing an order from Trump to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status. The protest opposes the sweep that the agency is running in various regions.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, active duty forces are generally prohibited from domestic police under the Congregation Comitutus Act, “a 19th century law that embodies American traditions that view as a democratic threat to both democracy and individual liberty.”
However, the National Guard is rarely subject to the law and can participate in law enforcement activities under the direction of the state governor. A national governor who is sympathetic to a request from Homeland Security can provide troops to the military for requests from Homeland Security, according to U.S. officials who are familiar with the request but are not permitted to speak publicly about it.
The request says that the National Guard will be funded under Title 32, a law that uses federal taxpayer dollars to fund activities, although the National Guard is under the control of the state’s governor.
Fugitives: “Night Operation and Country Stopping”
The request calls for the military to support immigration enforcement in five regions, including “attempts to find.” Homeland Security is seeking up to 3,500 security guards for investigative forces, surveillance and “night operations and rural blockages.”
The biggest demand for troops in the “transportation support” category requires as many as 10,000 troops. These staff members will help carry detainees and unaccompanied alien children. This request also calls for buses, vans and aircraft.
Many 2,500 units are in the request for “detention assistance.” These security guards support “overwhelming detention facilities.” Among the expected obligations: “riot control.”
Other units are being sought to manage “public information during visual activities” for search and rescue, medical units and public duties.
The public’s perception and confidence in the military can change
He said the deployment of thousands of additional National Guard forces in immigration enforcement could affect the military’s national perception. Kohn is also an associate professor at the US Navy War College, but spoke about the issue in personal capacity, not as a representative of the university or the federal government.
Homeland Security can justify the demand by claiming there is a shortage of personnel to do the sweep, Kohn said. However, attacks on schools and businesses are not popular with the American public. And how the military behaves is very important to the public’s perception and confidence, she said.
If they behave in restraint, Korn said they might be able to maintain their appearance without “on their side.” However, given that many people in law enforcement wear military uniforms, the public may not distinguish between military and law enforcement.
