Here’s the possible draft memo the AP reported on and it’s nothing like what they reported…

According to Vox the draft memo the AP described matched one that was leaked to them, and they provide the actual text of the memo.

If you read this section on the National Guard (which is the only section in the memo), you’ll find that the intention in this draft memo wasn’t about nationalizing the guard, nor was it about rounding up illegals.

D. Expansion of the 287(g) Program to Include State Guard Units in the Border Region Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes me to enter into an agreement with a state or political subdivision thereof, for the purpose of authorizing qualified officers or employees of the state or subdivision to perform the functions of an immigration officer. This grant of authority, known as the 287(g) Program, has been a highly successful force multiplier that authorizes state or local law enforcement personnel to perform all law enforcement functions specified in section 287(a) of the INA, including the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, and conduct searches of an alien for the purposes of enforcing the immigration laws. From January 2006 through September 2015, the 287(g) Program was credited with identifying more than 402,000 potentially removable aliens, primarily through encounters at local jails.

Empowering state and local law enforcement agencies to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law is critical to an effective enforcement strategy. Aliens who engage in criminal conduct are priorities for arrest and removal and will most likely be encountered by state and local law enforcement officers during the course of their routine duties. It is in the interest of the Department to partner with those state and local jurisdictions through 287(g) agreements to assist in the arrest and removal of criminal aliens.

Pursuant to Title 32 of the United States Code, State National Guard components are employees of their respective states and are under the command of their Governors when they are not in federal service. Based on their training and experience, these men and women are particularly well-suited to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law and augment border security operations by Department components.

To maximize participation by state and local jurisdictions in the enforcement of federal immigration law, I am directing the Director of ICE to engage with all willing and qualified law enforcement jurisdictions for the purpose of entering into agreements under section 287(g) of the INA. Additionally, I am directing the Commissioner of CBP and the Director of ICE to immediately engage with the Governors of the States adjacent to the land border with Mexico and those States adjoining such border States for the purpose of entering into agreements under section 287(g) of the INA to authorize qualified members of the State National Guard, while such members are not in federal service, or qualified members of a state militia or state defense force under the command of the Governor, to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of aliens in the United States.

The Commissioner of CBP and the Director of ICE should consider the operational functions and capabilities of the jurisdictions willing to enter into 287(g) agreements and structure such agreements in a manner that employs the most effective enforcement model for that jurisdiction, including the detention model, task force officer model, or joint detention-task force officer model.

The whole point of this section in this draft memo was to assist in the deportation of criminal illegals, something that Trump has publically stated he wants to do. It allows the states to employ not only their state and local law enforcement agencies to act as immigration officers, but to also allow their state national guards to act in such manner.

The idea that this was about rounding up ‘unauthorized’ illegals was phoney baloney to begin with.

Most reasonable people I saw on Twitter immediately recognized, as did we, that this might be ‘fake news’. But not the Mayor of NYC:

Liberals will automatically believe this kind of stuff because they want Trump to be this person.

Sean Davis from the Federalist suspects that it was once again a leak by an Obama holdover who mischaracterized the report:

Maybe. But the AP said they got their hands on the memo, so either they can’t read or didn’t see the entire section as we did. It’s also possible that there’s some other memo out there, but I doubt it.

Either way, it’s moot because it’s a draft memo that hasn’t been adopted by the administration. But as it stands, I see no problem if it were adopted and made official.


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