DHS Asks for 20,000 National Guard Personnel to Help Deport Illegal Immigrants

The military said it has received a request from the Department of Homeland Security.

A deportation officer with Enforcement and Removal Operations in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New York City field office conducts a brief before an early morning operation in the Bronx borough of New York City on Dec. 17, 2024. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo

Homeland security officials have requested 20,000 personnel to help with their large-scale deportation operation, officials confirmed on May 16.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 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 spokesperson for DHS, told The Epoch Times in an email.

“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 added.

A spokesperson for the Pentagon told The Epoch Times in an email that the military has received a request from DHS. The spokesperson declined to provide any additional information.

President Donald Trump has called for carrying out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, referencing how the government’s peak of removals was more than 1 million in fiscal year 1954.

In an order in May, he said that within 60 days, the DHS secretary “shall supplement existing enforcement and removal operations by deputizing and contracting with State and local law enforcement officers, former Federal officers, officers and personnel within other Federal agencies, and other individuals 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.”

Guard personnel are typically directed to tasks by states, but presidents have the power to federalize them or otherwise deploy them, as Trump did to Washington in 2020 during the protests and riots there.

Some officials expressed support for the Trump administration’s new action.

“DHS requests 20,000 National Guard troops to help with mass deportations. Texas is in. Let’s get this done,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, wrote on the social media platform X.

Abbott has utilized Guard personnel to arrest and help deport illegal immigrants.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond urged the state’s governor, Kevin Stitt, to send troops from Oklahoma to the border in light of the request.

Others questioned the step.

“Trump’s DHS is asking for 20,000 National Guardsmen to assist with immigration enforcement within our nation’s borders—something they’ve never been asked to do before and that is not part of the National Guard’s mission,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said in a statement.

“Not only does this undermine readiness and our national security, it also means Trump is testing the limits of how he can misuse our military against the American people. No one should believe that he will stop at immigrants if this plan moves forward.”

Trump in January assigned the military to secure the U.S.–Mexico border. In April, he authorized the military to take over land along the border.

“Our southern border is under attack from a variety of threats,” Trump wrote. “The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past.”

U.S. Northern Command said on April 21 that service members have been empowered to detain illegal immigrants trespassing in a portion of that land that has been designated a national defense area until other law enforcement officers can assume custody. Military members can also conduct searches of the trespassers and help install barriers, signs, and fencing.

“Through these enhanced authorities, U.S. Northern Command will ensure those who illegally trespass in the New Mexico National Defense Area are handed over to Customs and Border Protection or our other law enforcement partners,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, stated.

The Navy has also been assisting with the efforts, Adm. James Kilby told members of Congress this week, including with 30 intelligence specialists and P-8 Poseidon aircraft to conduct surveillance.