Trump admin wants 20K National Guard troops to help with mass deportation effort

The Trump administration has called on 20,000 National Guard troops to help ramp up President Trump’s mass deportation effort.

By President Trump’s 100th day in office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had collared more than 66,000 illegal migrants living in the US. However, officials want to increase the numbers by recruiting more manpower.

“DHS requested 20,000 National Guard members to help carry out the President’s mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post in a statement.

DHS will use “every tool and resource available to get criminal illegal aliens, including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and other violent criminals out of our country. The safety of American citizens comes first,” McLaughlin added.

ICE agents arrest a gang killer from Venezuela in Grapevine, Texas. ICE

The Department of Defense is weighing the request, which would mark the first time National Guard troops were used to enforce immigration law in the US, according to The New York Times.

It wasn’t immediately clear, however, if the states would also have to approve the plan and what role the guards would play specifically in the mass deportation effort.

Meanwhile, Border Patrol sources also told The Post that they have been asked to “volunteer” to assist ICE in an imminent “nationwide” effort.

The locations and targets of the operation, however, were not immediately clear.

With record-low illegal crossings over the southern border under President Trump, agents said they were jumping at the opportunity to help.

“I can’t wait to help take out the trash,” said one agent, who volunteered to help ICE.

Border Patrol encountered fewer than 10,000 migrants crossing the border illegally in April, marking a whopping 93% decrease from the more than 128,000 people who streamed across last April, the latest statistics show.

Trump is seeking new ways to expand his mass deportation effort. Daniel Torok/White House/ZUMA Press Wire / SplashNews.com

In addition to giving ICE a boost, the Trump administration has tried to push illegal migrants to leave on their own.

Illegal migrants can now opt to “self-deport” and have the US government pay for their flight home in addition to getting a $1,000 bonus upon their return home.

The Trump administration has already deported more than 65,000 illegal migrants from the US, according to ICE data.