The southern border state of Texas has authorized “several hundred” of its National Guard soldiers to carry out immigration enforcement, a job that has long been reserved for law enforcement.
The federal U.S. Customs and Border Protection has deputized a wide array of state soldiers to do the job of Border Patrol agents as the Trump administration simultaneously expands its pool of federal police who can apprehend and remove illegal immigrants, the Texas Military Department told the Washington Examiner this week.
The state disclosed that 300 members of the Texas National Guard were deputized in a “historic ceremony” in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas as of Feb. 18.