(The Center Square) – As President Donald Trump looks to deploy the National Guard in Chicago and other cities to fight crime, questions have risen over the Nevada National Guard.
Gov. Joe Lombardo gave a small group of the state’s National Guard soldiers the all-clear to aid immigration enforcement in a limited capacity, but left the door open for an expanded role.
“Nevada stands firm in its commitment to uphold federal law and collaborate effectively with federal immigration authorities,” wrote the Governor’s Office in an Aug. 19 press release announcing the National Guard’s deployment.
In July, the Department of Defense requested that the National Guard in 20 states, including Nevada, aid U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The DOD operation, set to end Nov. 15, is an entirely separate order from the National Guard deployments to Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles and proposed cities.
“The Nevada National Guard is not currently working law enforcement support outside the state of Nevada,” spokesperson Capt. Emerson Marcus told The Center Square.
The Nevada National Guard’s aid to ICE of up to 35 soldiers is in administrative roles and forbids law enforcement duties and the use of weapons.
Elsewhere in the country, the National Guard has been used on a much larger scale. Around 2,000 troops from seven states and Washington, D.C., have been deployed to the nation’s capital to prevent what President Trump called a crime emergency.
In Los Angeles, President Trump overstepped California Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy over 4,200 California National Guard troops to quell anti-ICE protests and riots. A federal judge ruled Tuesday the move broke a nearly 150-year-old law preventing the unnecessary use of military as law enforcement.
Newsom Thursday said the deployment in Los Angeles cost taxpayers almost $120 million, but the Secretary of Defense’s Office told The Center Square Thursday night that it won’t calculate costs before the deployment ends in November. The Governor’s Office said its number is based on calculations that the California National Guard performed at Newsom’s request.
Trump has pushed on for deployment of National Guard Troops in Chicago and New Orleans, among other U.S. cities he said had crime emergencies warranting a military presence – despite local pushback.
“We’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country,” Trump said in a press conference earlier this week.
The Nevada National Guard said it is not currently involved in any law enforcement outside of Nevada, instead citing its summer firefighting aid across the West as an example of its operations in other states.
“The Nevada National Guard remains ready for any call for service or support in defense of our state and nation,” said Capt. Marcus.
