Feb 2, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Texas National Guard to make immigration arrests under Trump admin deal

Rebecca Falconer

Texas National Guard soldiers wait nearby the boat ramp where law enforcement enter the Rio Grande at Shelby Park on January 26, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas. — Texas National Guard soldiers wait nearby the boat ramp where law enforcement enter the Rio Grande at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, in the state's southwest, last year. Photo: Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

The Texas National Guard was "granted the power of immigration officials to make immigration arrests" under an agreement with the Trump administration that state Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday was effective "immediately."

Why it matters: The national guard's increased powers are part of President Trump's immigration crackdown vow to expel millions of undocumented immigrants, which saw him sign executive orders declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border soon after taking office.

State of play: The deal between Customs and Border Protection and Texas "boosts man power for border security," Abbott said on X Sunday evening.

A memorandum of understanding authored by CBP Acting Commissioner Pete Flores has yet to be "disseminated to all Texas border sectors," per Breitbart, which first reported on the deal.
Representatives for Abbott's office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening on when this would happen.
The agreement will enable soldiers to conduct "roving patrols and exercise all the duties of an immigration agent so long as a U.S. immigration officer or Border Patrol agent accompanies them," per Breitbart.
Representatives for CBT did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment in the evening.

Zoom out: A Jan. 23 Department of Homeland Security directive gave Justice Department law enforcement officials in the U.S. Marshals, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Prisons authority to investigate and apprehend suspected undocumented immigrants.

Trump's attempt to expand "fast-track" deportations without a full hearing is being challenged in an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit, which argues it violates federal law and the Fifth Amendment's due process clause since it nearly erases full court hearings entitled to immigrants.

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