NORFOLK, Va. — Members of the Virginia National Guard were mobilized this week to support the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Guard said.
Guard troops are getting prepped and trained and are scheduled to report for duty at ICE field offices by the end of the week. Additional troops are scheduled to mobilize later this month, up to a maximum of 60 people.
Guard members will provide administrative and logistical support to ICE operations in Virginia. Their duties will include answering phones, data entry, appointment scheduling, biometric collection, basic vehicle maintenance, and tracking fleet expenses and usage.
The Guard members will not conduct law enforcement activities or make arrests.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin authorized the Guard to support ICE in August.
“I do believe strongly that the role of the Virginia National Guard is not law enforcement in this case, it is to support the administrative side of things,” Youngkin told WTVR.
In a statement, Ayuda, an organization providing services to low-income immigrants in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, condemned the move.
“No matter how it is framed, allocating resources to aid federal detention and deportation operations harms Virginia immigrants and communities alike,” the statement read.
Virginia joins several Republican-led states that have authorized the use of National Guard troops to assist with ICE operations. An internal ICE memo, first reported by the New York Times, said that 20 states, including Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana would deploy troops to support its mission.
On July 25, the Department of Defense announced that military personnel supporting ICE would shift from Title 10 to Title 32 status, a legal change that keeps troops under state control while allowing federally funded support for certain missions.
Unlike Title 10, which prohibits federal troops from engaging in domestic law enforcement under the Posse Comitatus Act, Title 32 lets them assist federal agencies like ICE in certain support roles. While the Virginia National Guard says its members won’t carry out law enforcement duties, Title 32 status gives states more flexibility if that changes.
The airmen and service members assigned to the mission will report directly to ICE leadership. It is expected to continue through Nov. 15.
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