news

Congressman Cuellar responded to reports of an internal Department of Homeland Security memo exploring the possibility of using National Guard troops as a domestic deportation force:

“If accurate, this draft proposal by Secretary Kelly, as reported by the Associated Press, is unacceptable.

First, this is part of an alarming pattern from President Trump and his Cabinet, of disrespect for American values and institutions like posse comitatus.

Second, undocumented immigrants are not a major threat to our nation. Law enforcement is perfectly capable of handling the issue, with proper resources. The number of undocumented people in the U.S. has fallen in the last decade, and they are no more likely to commit crimes here than people with legal status. The President’s hysteria about them does not seem to be rooted in logic.

Third, this is not what our National Guard members signed up to do. When they took their oaths, they put their liberty in our hands. We cannot put them in such a position.

I hope the governors of the 11 states named in the memo will choose not to order the men and women under their command to participate in an illegal and un-American domestic deportation force.”