In a memo, the Department of Homeland Security announced the duties request 20,000 National Guard troops to help enforce Trump’s immigration policy.
Troops would be used in immigration activities including “night operations and rural interdiction,” as well as “guard duty and riot control” inside detention facilities, according to the memo.
DHS requested the troops three weeks ago, but the memo lays out the duties the troops will be expected to perform.
At a hearing with Army officials on Thursday, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he was not certain what the troops would be doing, but said he wouldn’t deploy them for anything unlawful. Officials are unclear whether sending troops from one state to another is lawful.
In February, sixty Texas Military Department soldiers took an oath to support the U.S. Border Patrol in enforcing immigration laws. With this new role, Texas National Guard soldiers can now apprehend and detain people who cross the border illegally, expanding beyond their previous duties of observation and support.
According to NPR, the Pentagon has not approved the request for the troops but is working with governors nationwide to determine where which states will provide the troops, but it appears that most of them will come from Republican-led states.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said that this is the first time the National Guard would be used to enforce immigration policy within the United States.
An unofficial statement made to NPR suggested that “sanctuary cities” are the main targets of this new initiative.
