National Guard troops will be deployed in 19 states to assist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities and might deploy in Chicago, New York and other cities, the Defense Department announced on Friday. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo
The Trump administration is deploying up to 1,700 National Guard troops to 19 states to assist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.
The troops will assist with logistical support, transportation, case management and clerical services at facilities that are processing “illegal migrants,” the Defense Department told Fox News.
“The in-and-out processing may include personal data collection, fingerprinting, DNA swabbing and photographing of personnel in ICE custody,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a prepared statement.
The troops will be deployed from August through mid-November amid a surge in ICE enforcement activities as the Trump administration works to meet its goal of at least 30,000 monthly deportations.
A July status change of Marine Corps personnel to National Guard status will support the 19-state deployment, which will not include law enforcement activities, according to News Nation.
The deployments will occur in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, SouthCarolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming, according to the Defense Department.
Unrelated to anti-violent crime deployments
The pending deployments are not related to the use of National Guard troops to quell violent crime in the nation’s capital or other cities, such as Chicago, according to the White House.
President Donald Trump has said the National Guard could be deployed to Chicago, New York and other cities to address violent crime after calling the Washington deployment a success.
“I think Chicago will be our next [city], and then we’ll help with New York,” Trump told federal agents and National Guard troops on Thursday.
The president deployed about 2,000 National Guard troops to the capital earlier this month, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week authorized them to carry weapons.
The U.S. Marshals Service will approve the troops carrying sidearms, which will be 9mm Sig Sauer M17 pistols for personal protection.
New Mexico National Guard deployed to address crime
Also deploying National Guard troops to quell crime is New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham.
Grisham, a Democrat, recently announced a state of emergency due to crime in parts of the state and already deployed up to 70 National Guard troops in Albuquerque.
She also has issued states of emergency in Rio Arriba County, the city of Espanola and pueblos in the area after being asked to do so by respective local governments, CNN reported.
Grisham cited a fentanyl epidemic and violent crime among juveniles as “requiring immediate intervention” and in a news release said Rio Arriba County has the state’s highest rate of overdose deaths.
Local law enforcement and other resources are overwhelmed by a surge in drug trafficking, violent crime and other threats to public safety, she said.
