From the Arkansas Advocate:
The Arkansas National Guard has asked the federal government for authority to make immigration arrests, data shows.
According to ICE’s website, the Arkansas National Guard applied to receive authority under the so-called “task force model” of the 287(g) program. If the Guard’s application is approved, guard members who complete the necessary training would be allowed to conduct certain immigration enforcement activities.
“The 287(g) Task Force Model serves as a force multiplier by allowing state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority during routine police enforcement duties,” according to ICE.
ICE’s website noted the Arkansas National Guard’s application as “pending” as of Aug. 14. It did not say when the application was submitted or when it could be approved.
A spokesperson for the Arkansas National Guard did not respond to a request for comment.
The application comes in the months after the Arkansas Legislature approved the Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act. Act 426 of 2025 requires the Arkansas State Police, Department of Corrections and county sheriffs’ departments to apply for authority to serve immigration warrants under the “warrant service officer” model and outlaws so-called “sanctuary cities” within the state.
The Arkansas National Guard was not specifically included in the act. National Guard soldiers typically do not serve a law enforcement role.
However, the Arkansas National Guard joined ASP and several other sheriffs offices in going a step further than what was required in the legislation by applying for “task force model” authority.
According to data obtained by DeportationData.org via federal Freedom of Information Act requests, more than 1,500 people have been arrested by immigration authorities in Arkansas in 2025.
The task force model is one of three 287(g) programs offered by ICE to local law enforcement agencies that impart limited degrees of immigration enforcement powers. The first, the warrant service officer model, allows trained law enforcement agencies to serve immigration warrants to those already in local jails. The jail enforcement model allows local law enforcement to identify and process those it believes are in the country illegally that are brought into the jail.
Eleven Arkansas jurisdictions have received authority under one of the two models this year.
But the task force model, which was originally suspended during former President Barack Obama’s administration, grants local law enforcement immigration enforcement powers outside jails. Agencies approved by ICE can stop, question and arrest people based on suspicions of immigration violations alone — something local law enforcement typically cannot do.
President Donald Trump’s administration revived the task force model after he retook office in January.
The American Immigration Council, a D.C.-based non-profit that advocates for immigrants, has described the task force model as having a “track record of racial profiling and harm.”
