The White House distanced itself Friday from a Department of Homeland Security draft proposal to use the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, but lawmakers said the document offers insight into the Trump administration’s internal efforts to enact its promised crackdown on illegal immigration.
Administration officials said the proposal, which called for mobilizing up to 100,000 troops in 11 states, was rejected, and would not be part of plans to carry out President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policy.
If implemented, the National Guard idea, contained in an 11-page memo (http://apne.ws/2l1Dj0k) obtained by the Associated Press, could have led to enforcement action against millions of immigrants living nowhere near the Mexican border. Four states that border on Mexico were included in the proposal — California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas — but it also encompassed seven states contiguous to those four — Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Despite the AP’s public release of the document, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said there was “no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants.” A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for approval.
However, DHS staffers said Thursday that they had been told by colleagues in two DHS departments that the proposal was still being considered as recently as Feb. 10.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen declined to say who wrote the memo, how long it had been under consideration or when it was rejected.
The pushback from administration officials did little to quell outrage over the draft plan.
Three Republican governors spoke out against the proposal and numerous Democratic lawmakers denounced it as an overly aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.
“Regardless of the White House’s response, this document is an absolutely accurate description of the disturbing mindset that pervades the Trump administration when it comes to our nation’s immigrants,” said U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he would have “concerns about the utilization of National Guard resources for immigration enforcement,” believing such a program “would be too much of a strain on our National Guard personnel.”
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert would have serious concerns about the constitutional implications and financial impact of activating the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, the governor’s office said in a statement.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval questioned the legality of the plan described in the draft memo and said it would be an inappropriate use of guard resources.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, “This administration’s complete disregard for the impact its internal chaos and inability to manage its own message and policy is having on real people’s lives is offensive.”
The AP had sought comment from the White House beginning Thursday and DHS earlier Friday and had not received a response from either. After the AP released the story, Spicer said the memo was “not a White House document” and said there was “no effort to do what is potentially suggested.”
Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which bears the name of Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.
At a maximum, about 100,000 Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel would be available for stateside missions in the 11 states, according to statistics provided by the National Guard Bureau.
While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.
Trump on ‘fake news’
Also on Friday, hoping to shift attention from his troubled White House, Trump hit the road to deliver a pep talk to American workers and the rest of the nation, resurrecting the jobs promises that powered his election victory and pledging in a campaign-style rally to “unleash the power of the American spirit.”
But he was only a few hours away from the turmoil he has stirred in Washington when he swerved from that positive message to escalate his complaints about news coverage of his young administration.
“The FAKENEWS media ... is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he exclaimed on Twitter, singling out the New York Times and TV networks. His latest outburst came a day after he forcefully defended his administration in a marathon White House news conference, brushing aside the tumult, infighting among senior staff and setbacks in courts and Congress.
He took a more upbeat tack in North Charleston, S.C.
“We love our workers and we are going to protect our workers,” Trump declared at a Boeing plant where the company showed off its new 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft. “We are going to fight for jobs. We are going to fight for our families,” he said in a reprise of the “America First” message from his campaign.
Trump is expected to stick to the theme Saturday when he holds a big rally in central Florida. It marks an effort to galvanize a month-old White House that has been buffeted by crisis and paralyzed by dysfunction.
The new president toured a 787-10 still under construction and, before leaving, sat in the pilot’s seat of a completed airplane painted in contrasting shades of blue that formed the backdrop for his remarks. Some 5,000 employees and others inside a hangar greeted him with chants of “USA, USA.”
“As your president, I’m going to do everything I can to unleash the power of the American spirit and to put our great people back to work,” he said. “This is our mantra: Buy American and hire American.”
Trump then departed South Carolina for his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he plans to spend the holiday weekend.
Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey also contributed to this report.