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2,000 National Guard troops expected to be called up to assist at ICE detention facilities, sources say

<i>Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Members of the California National Guard load a truck outside the private prison company GEO Group Adelanto ICE Processing Center detention facility in Adelanto

By CNN Newsource

Published July 22, 2025 1:54 pm

By Haley Britzky and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

(CNN) — Roughly 2,000 National Guard troops across multiple states are expected to be mobilized to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement at detention facilities, according to a US official and a source familiar with the planning.

It’s unclear when the troops will be mobilized, though the US official said the move, which is still under deliberation, could come as soon as this week. Both sources said the troops will be placed on Title 32 status, which puts them under the command of their governors and not subject to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement purposes.

The Trump administration has ramped up immigration arrests nationwide, resulting in a dramatic increase of people in ICE custody. As of Tuesday, there were around 57,000 people in ICE custody, according to federal data obtained by CNN. Senior Trump officials are preparing to expand detention space nationwide in the coming weeks after receiving a historic amount of funding from Congress.

The US official said the mobilization is expected to call up National Guard troops from as many as 20 states who will be tasked with some hands-on roles including conducting finger printing and mouth swabbing of detainees. National Guard forces have largely been used to provide administrative assistance to ICE thus far, though the US official said ICE has communicated the need for assistance in other areas.

A defense official said the Pentagon would not “speculate on future operations or operational needs, but DoD stands ready to support our DHS partners in executing the President’s executive orders and protecting the United States’ sovereign territory.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

The plans are in line with an earlier request from DHS to the Defense Department asking for thousands of National Guard personnel to assist with a range of tasks, including processing, transportation support and detention support. According to the request, obtained by CNN, up to 2,500 National Guard personnel were requested to support security at detention facilities, in-facility operations like meal distribution, processing and emergency response.

A Senate aide said the expected move to put 2,000 Guardsmen on Title 32 status was significant and likely an indicator of the administration moving closer to the full request from DHS for thousands more Guardsmen to assist in immigration enforcement across the country.

“If you’re plotting the points on a graph of the way the administration has taken one step at a time, you continue that trajectory and it’s going to look pretty similar to what DHS has been requesting, as far as 20,000 troops across the country performing what we’d consider to be immigration enforcement activities,” the aide said.

CNN has reported that the White House and Department of Homeland Security have been seeking ways to use the National Guard and the military more broadly to help bolster immigration enforcement around the country, in an effort to ramp up arrests of migrants.

While ICE is preparing to receive an unprecedented $75 billion in funding, current and former Homeland Security officials say the recruiting and training of ICE personnel is likely to take weeks or months, requiring outside assistance in the interim.

Roughly 4,000 National Guardsmen were mobilized last month to assist ICE personnel in Los Angeles, in response to protests and to protect federal personnel and property, though half of them have since been released from the mission.

The Florida National Guard has also been mobilized to conduct base camp security at a new detention center in the Everglades, the Pentagon announced earlier this month, though a spokesperson for the Florida Guard previously said they had not yet been tasked with “detention or enforcement operations.”