Editor’s note: The Nebraska Governor’s Office on Tuesday specified where the Nebraska National Guard members will be serving. The story has been updated.
Omaha, NE — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen says the Nebraska National Guard’s new role in assisting federal immigration authorities will be administrative and not law enforcement. His office followed up Tuesday to say the Guard will be headed to Omaha, Grand Island and North Platte, not McCook.
The governor answered questions about the Guard’s role during a news conference on a separate topic Monday in Douglas County. He said the 20 troops assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations will do DNA swabs, fingerprint detainees and similar work.
He said he asked the Guard for volunteers and said the 20 who stepped forward will “not be doing any arresting.” He said their work “will be administrative support for ICE.”
He also said the ICE immigration detention facility at the McCook Work Ethic Camp, which will be run by Nebraska Department of Correctional Services personnel, would come online for immigration use within 45 days.
“We feel really, really proud that we’re able to play a part in that, to make sure we’re safe,” Pillen said of Nebraska. “This is about safety, not immigration.”
Critics have described the state-run federal detention facilities and increased immigration raids as inhumane and said they are part of a national effort by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to get migrants swept up in stings to self-deport rather than fight their cases in court.
Pillen was asked about a Fox News report that said several states, including Nebraska, were about to send National Guard troops to help in immigration and in some cases policing roles in major cities. He said Nebraska’s help is in McCook and around the state with ICE.
Pillen said he and Nebraska Guard leaders had not discussed assisting the Trump administration in a criminal justice capacity in Washington, D.C., Chicago or other targeted Democratic-led cities.
“We’re a state of 2 million people,” he said. “We’re out-kicking our coverage here, but we can’t do everything.”
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