DHS Memo Reveals Workaround for Using Guard Members in Immigration Enforcement

Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, stated that the memo should be alarming to Americans, particularly with midterm elections approaching. Doris Meissner, a former director of Immigration and Naturalization Services and now with the Migration Policy Institute, commented that DHS appears to be "pushing the envelope in every possible way they can."

The Supreme Court's December ruling emphasized that the military, including the National Guard, can only be deployed for law enforcement purposes when local forces are inadequately operating. Critics suggest this new strategy might extend beyond immigration enforcement, with some arguing that similar legal justifications could be used to deploy Guard members to polling sites to address alleged voter fraud by unauthorized immigrants.

President Donald Trump has previously threatened to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, which would permit the deployment of troops nationwide to quell unrest. Some supporters of the president have proposed that Republican governors might deploy the National Guard to polling places before the November elections. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has also focused on investigating voter fraud and has not ruled out sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to polling places if specific threats arise.