National Guard deployment stories

Aug 27, 2026

DHS memo authorized National Guard to conduct immigration arrests as Trump administration expands enforcement

A confidential Department of Homeland Security memo issued after President Trump's return to office provided legal justification for deploying National Guard troops as immigration officers. The revelation comes as New Hampshire faces an ACLU lawsuit over a separate program allowing local police to make immigration arrests.

Aug 27, 20263 sources

Top claims

▪Although the April 17, 2025 Department of Homeland Security memo authorized National Guard members to perform immigration arrests, no such instances of National Guard members directly carrying out arrests have been reported as of August 28, 2026.
▪President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy military troops domestically to respond to domestic issues.
▪The April 17, 2025 Department of Homeland Security memo was written by then-acting general counsel Joseph Mazzara and obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight through a Freedom of Information Act request.

People involved

Donald Trump

Subtopics

Civil liberties Immigration enforcement Executive authority

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