During a House Appropriations Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) questioned General Steven S. Nordhaus, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau at the Department of Defense, about deportation efforts.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chair. The New York Times reported last week that the Department
00:05of Homeland Security would be requesting the DOD to provide 20,000
00:10National Guard forces to assist in the removal of immigrants from the United
00:13States. This was based on an order from the President to increase deportation of
00:18forces. The article also stated that state governors would ask for volunteers
00:23for this duty. General Northus and guardsmen will be called up for this
00:28mission on the southern border. Are they being called up as law enforcement
00:32personnel to assist in the removal of immigrants outside the United States or
00:37both? If they are to be called up for the removal of immigrants, can you share with
00:42the committee the following? Where will the guardsmen be called up? What
00:47activities will they be executing? And will law enforcement be among them? So the
00:53question becomes, having been a state representative, under what legal authority
00:58will the guardsmen be utilized? Because some of the guardsmen will have been maybe
01:04law enforcement, sheriff's officers, and others. And they would have some arrest
01:09authority in certain circumstances. So can you explain how you see law enforcement
01:16personnel being used? Just folks that maybe don't serve in law enforcement in a
01:23regular capacity in their civilian job. And people who are law enforcement in their
01:30civilian job, if they will be given different duties or different duties
01:34expected of them.
01:36Congresswoman, thank you for the question. I do know that the Department of Defense has
01:45received a request for assistance. It is just an initial end to the building and is
01:49being staffed. Don't have specific details or how the department will execute on that
01:54request for assistance at this time. I do know that the National Guard has supported
02:00law enforcement, whether it was in presidential election inauguration 60 or in 59 and
02:07multiple times across the states that the National Guard gets trained and ready. We
02:12operate under the authorities of either the state and the governor or operate under
02:19authorities from Congress. And so we take those things very seriously and we make sure
02:25that we're following the Constitution, we're following the law and any policy and guidance.
02:30And then that our guardsmen receive the training and were put on missions that they know exactly
02:34what they need to do, when they need to do it, and how they need to do it. And so we'll be focused on that going forward.
02:39Okay. Well, I think there's a lot of legal questions that our guards, men and women,
02:45need to know before they're assigned to duties. And I expect due diligence to be done because
02:50there's also talk about using more federal lands, using land and the federal government declaring it
02:59part of a national emergency and then putting military personnel on there. Does that make it
03:04military base? I think there's a lot of areas which we don't understand as of yet, at least I don't.
03:12And I feel I have an oversight responsibility to understand what the roles are going to be,
03:17because I don't want to put any person, military or whether they're guards or non-guards,
03:24in a position where they're given an order where things haven't been really thought out very clearly,
03:30because it's going to be their name in the paper. It's going to be their unit in the paper.
03:35And I just want to make sure that we do our due diligence. And when we give them a mission to
03:39fulfill that we have, we have thought of all the legal responsibilities and obligations they have.
03:45The other question that I'm concerned about is, as these activities increase, how does that affect
03:50their training and their qualifications for a near peer fight? How do we, how do you work with,
03:56with, with the department, with, with the president to find that sweet spot? And that's my only question
04:02that I have, Mr. Chair. Congresswoman, thank you. As, as we talk about the National Guard being 433,000
04:09strong and currently 34,000, just over 33,500 today around the globe. And so that's less than 10%. And as we
04:20see when hurricanes, wildfires, things hit a state, we're able to use emergency management
04:26assistance and compacts and be able to go to wherever's needed to provide that support in the
04:30state. Also while we're training for the wartime fight. And so from your National Guard, we're,
04:37we're always ready, always there. We're, we're making sure that we're using every dollar that
04:41Congress gives us to maximize that training and readiness so that we can answer the call when called
04:46upon. I thank you, gentlelady. Mr. Cole, uh, was unable to attend today, but his statement will be
04:54placed in the record and he wanted to emphasize his support for the Guard and Reserve over the years
04:59and his continued support. Uh, thank you. I appreciate-