On Thursday, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) — which oversees U.S. military operations in North America – announced that it would be deploying approximately 200 U.S. Marines to Florida and other states to assist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Multiple military veterans are now sounding the alarm.
According to USNORTHCOM's official statement, the Marines will be sent from the Marine Wing Support Squadron 272, Marine Corps Air Station in New River, North Carolina. In addition to Florida, USNORTHCOM indicated that Marines would also be headed to Louisiana and Texas. The Marines are reportedly only going to "perform strictly non-law enforcement duties within ICE facilities." The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 explicitly prohibits the U.S. military from being used for civilian law enforcement activity.
"Their roles will focus on administrative and logistical tasks, and they are specifically prohibited from direct contact with individuals in ICE custody or involvement in any aspect of the custody chain," the statement read.
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The news of Marines assisting immigration officials within U.S. borders provoked condemnation from several prominent military veterans on social media. Former Ukrainian Armed Forces veteran John Jackson said the use of the military within U.S. borders suggested that President Donald Trump's administration was "trending in such a bad direction." Army combat veteran and podcaster Fred Wellman called the deployment "incredibly dangerous and outrageous."
"Combat Marines do not belong anywhere in the United States supporting ICE," Wellman wrote on X. "This is not their mission."
Army National Guard veteran Chris Purdy of the Chamberlain Network — an advocacy group led by military veterans — also condemned the use of military personnel to assist with immigration-related operations on American soil. Purdy insisted that in a democracy, the military "defends the nation" and "doesn't police its people."
"The [National] Guard is especially vulnerable here, because the Guard is different, because they live in communities they're being asked to patrol now," he said. "They're going to see the same families at the grocery store, at the kids' soccer game and church. Members of the Guard, they have library cards. And when they're patrolling their own communities for political partisan purposes, that crosses a line that we should never ask them to do."
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AlterNet reached out to USNORTHCOM by phone for comment.