Army officials indicated that the Trump administration is preparing to provide 20,000 National Guard troops to help crack down on illegal immigration, though the Pentagon said it is still reviewing the decision.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Randy George signaled at a Thursday Senate hearing that National Guard troops are being prepared to assist in immigration enforcement, adding that the missions would comply with the law in response to Democrats’ concerns, Stars and Stripes reported. Their comments came in response to a May request the Department of Defense (DOD) received from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the military’s help to get illegal immigration under control.
“The Department is reviewing a request for assistance from the Department of Homeland Security for mission support,” a Pentagon official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We have no announcements to make at this time but will share announcements regarding any DoD support as they become available.”
“DHS requested 20,000 National Guard members to help carry out the President’s mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the DCNF. “The Department of Homeland Security will use every tool and resource available to get criminal illegal aliens including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and other violent criminals out of our country. The safety of American citizens comes first.”
The National Guard is a part of the U.S. military controlled by both state governors and the president. Several Republican governors sent National Guard troops to secure the southern border under former President Joe Biden in response to his administration’s failure to curb record-high illegal immigration; DHS recorded 11 million encounters of illegal migrants under Biden.
Trump ran for reelection on aggressive promises to secure the border with wide support, with polling from February 2024 indicating that most Americans approve of “using military troops to arrest and deport” illegal migrants. Border czar Tom Homan said on April 28 that the Trump administration had deported 139,000 illegal immigrants since Inauguration Day.
March 2025 brought the lowest number of border encounters on record at less than 7,200, and fentanyl traffic at the southern 54% by that month, DHS said in April.
“I say, the more that we can use our soldiers in jobs that are appropriate for our soldiers, I say go for it,” Republican Sen. Joni Ernst from Iowa said at the Thursday hearing, according to Stars and Stripes.
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