Is the National Guard going to round-up immigrants or not?
By Victor Landa, NewsTaco (2.5 minute read)
The short answer to the question of whether or not the National Guard will be deployed to round up immigrants, is not.
But there are more questions.
Did the White House weigh using the National Guard?
Not really.
Is there wide-spread panic among immigrants over this?
Yeah, lot’s.
So what happened?
Back in January 25 or so, Homeland Security drafted a memo that explored ways to implement Trump’s announced prioritized undocumented immigrant deportation. Among the ideas in the memo was the activation of 100,000 National Guard Troops to do the dirty work. It wasn’t policy and hasn’t become policy. It was an idea in a memo and Trump spokespersons say the White House never considered using the idea.
Read more stories about the immigrant round ups in News Taco. >>
There are a lot of raised eyebrows. The Associated Press got its hands on the memo last week, published it, and panic ensued.
Everything is justifiable. The panic makes sense, the AP’s publication of the memo is standard practice, and the White House has plausible deniability.
Meanwhile . . .
Homeland Security keeps drafting immigration memos
Only these could grow some teeth. The Washington Post reports:
“Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has signed sweeping new guidelines that empower federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States and at the border.
“In a pair of memos, Kelly offered more detail on plans for the agency to hire thousands of additional enforcement agents, expand the pool of immigrants who are prioritized for removal, speed up deportation hearings and enlist local law enforcement to help make arrests.”
The White House Counsel’s office has received the memo and has pushed-back on some items. And that’s all we know for now.
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[Photo by DVIDSHUB/Flickr]