This story has been updated to include comment from the ACLU of Arkansas and AIRE.
Arkansas’ governor says the National Guard will now carry out immigration enforcement duties in the state.
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Tuesday the Arkansas National Guard will assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in their duties.
The governor says 40 personnel from both the Air and Army National Guard will be assigned to assist ICE agents across the state – 18 will go to Little Rock, 10 each to Fort Smith and Fayetteville, and two to Camp Robinson in North Little Rock for “command and control support.”
“Guardsmen will not be armed and will provide logistical support for detainee transport, operating or riding in a vehicle with an ICE agent who has custody of detained individuals. They will also help process detained individuals and perform clerical tasks to facilitate illegal immigrant detainment,” a statement from the Governor’s Office reads.
This comes as several law enforcement agencies, including Arkansas State Police, have also applied to function as immigration enforcement officers in the state under a program called 287(g). The program allows law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE at varying levels.
A bill signed into law by Sanders earlier this year requires Arkansas law enforcement to participate in the lowest level of the 287(g) program, called the Jail Enforcement Model. The highest level, called the Task Force Model, allows police to essentially function as ICE agents, making arrests and beginning deportation proceedings.
The Arkansas National Guard requested authority to make immigration arrests last month under the 287(g) program. Despite that, Sanders is authorizing the National Guard to assist ICE under a mobilization order called Title 32, which is typically used in natural disasters.
States across the country are now eligible to carry out similar mobilizations, pending approval by individual governors, after the Department of Defense approved a request from the Department of Homeland Security in July.
Sanders previously deployed National Guard personnel to the U.S. border with Mexico in 2023 and 2024. The current mobilization orders will run through November 15.
ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson condemned the move in a statement.
“This is an abuse of power that jeopardizes Arkansans’ rights and safety,” Dickson said. “Governor Sanders is using our state’s servicemembers to advance a fear and race based political agenda at the expense of civil liberties, Arkansas families, and our most fundamental constitutional principles. The National Guard’s role at home is to protect Arkansans — not to target us in our communities.”
The nonprofit immigrants' rights group AIRE based in Northwest Arkansas also weighed in, saying "at a time when our state is already experiencing widespread racial profiling and fear caused by ICE activities, further involvement by the National Guard will only escalate the harm."
"We also call on members of the National Guard who are voluntarily choosing to participate in these efforts to reflect deeply and reconsider their actions. We remind them of their oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States — an oath that includes protecting the rights and freedoms of all people. Contributing to fear-driven and unnecessary operations is anything but heroic," the statement reads.
