WASHINGTON (AURN News) — A newly released Department of Homeland Security memo outlines how the Trump administration could turn federalized National Guard troops into immigration enforcement officers, even beyond their home states.
The April 2025 document, obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight, lays out a two-step strategy.
The strategy would place Guard members under federal command through Title 10, then grant them immigration enforcement powers under federal law.
DHS argues that congressional authorization would allow the troops to perform civilian law enforcement without violating the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally restricts military policing inside the U.S.
Legal experts dispute that interpretation, arguing that Congress never intended immigration law to become a backdoor for domestic military enforcement.
American Oversight warns that the theory could be used to place troops near polling locations under the banner of preventing noncitizen voting.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
