DHS requests 20,000 National Guard troops to help with mass deportations in US

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has requested 20,000 National Guard troops to help with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, a DHS official confirmed to The Hill, Report informs.

The department requested the Guard members from the Pentagon “to help carry out the President’s mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

A defense official also told The Hill that the Pentagon “received a request” this week but was not able to share the contents because planning is in the initial stages and pre-decisional.

The New York Times first reported on the request and was told Pentagon lawyers were reviewing it along with “interior immigration enforcement.”

It is unknown what role National Guard members would take in the immigration crackdown, such as whether they would be involved in rounding up and arresting people for deportation or just transportation or security.