According to the AP, Trump is considering mobilizing as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up illegal immigrants:
BREAKING: Trump administration considers mobilizing as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants.
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 17, 2017
Now I assume this would refer to criminal illegals as he’s stated before, if this report is even true. Given all of the bad leaks coming out of the Trump administration, I’d caution just accepting this as fact.
I’ll have more on this as it becomes available…
UPDATE: Ok here’s more from the AP. They say it’s coming from a draft memo that they’ve gotten their hands on:
A draft memo obtained by The Associated Press outlines a Trump administration proposal under consideration to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants. Millions of those who would be affected in 11 states live nowhere near the Mexico border.
The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana. If the proposal is implemented, governors in the affected states would have final approval on whether troops under their control participate.
So this is draft executive order. It hasn’t been adopted by Trump yet and we don’t know if it will be.
UPDATE 2: Here’s even more from the AP, including that it was written by DHS Secretary John Kelly:
The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.
Four states that border on Mexico are included in the proposal — California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas — but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four — Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.
While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.
The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.
Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized “to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States.” It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.
Again, this is a DRAFT MEMO. It may or may not be signed by Trump, so take that into consideration.
UPDATE 3: Sean Spicer just put the kibosh on this report, calling it 100% fake news!
This is not true. DHS also confirms it is 100% false https://t.co/MFIJci7XaU
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) February 17, 2017
DHS also weighs in calling it incorrect:
Homeland Security spokeswoman tells NBC News: "That AP story about the National Guard is incorrect. It's not true."
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 17, 2017
So there you have it.