The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has requested help from tens of thousands of National Guardsmen as it seeks to intensify President Trump’s domestic deportation program.
The DHS has asked for 20,000 National Guardsmen “to help carry out the President’s mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens,” Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokeswoman, confirmed.
“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.
President Trump was elected on a promise to carry out the “largest mass deportation operation in American history.”
Earlier this month, the President issued an Executive Order instructing Secretary Noem to “increase the enforcement and removal operations force of the Department of Homeland Security by no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has used National Guard troops to aid immigration enforcement in his state, praised the move.
“DHS requests 20,000 National Guard troops to help with mass deportations. Texas is in. Let’s get this done,” Abbott, wrote on X.
President Trump has relied on the US military in other ways to help his immigration agenda.
In January, he ordered the militarization of the southern border, and in April he authorized the military to take control of federal land along the border. Service personnel are now empowered to detaining illegal immigrants trespassing in these new military areas.