The Trump administration has dispatched around 200 Marines to Florida to support immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) in state deportation raids, the US military announced Thursday.
According to a statement from the US Northcom, the Marine Corps coming from Marine Corps Support Squadron 272, based in New River, North Carolina, will support ICE with an “internal immigration enforcement mission” through “critical management and logistics capabilities at designated locations.”
Law enforcement combined with 17th year operating dry water.
The release was the “first wave” of service members supporting Marines’ deportation efforts, pointing out other developments in Louisiana and Texas.
Northcom highlighted that service members participating in the mission will carry out “strictly illegal enforcement obligations” within the ice facility, with the role focusing on administrative and logistics tasks.
“They are specifically prohibited from direct contact with individuals in ice detention or from any aspect of the custody chain,” the statement said.
The Marine Corps mobilization responds to a request from the Department of Homeland Security at the Pentagon on May 9, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegses approved the mobilization of up to 700 active, national and reserve forces.
President Trump has used the military significantly in his immigration agenda in his second term compared to his first term. The administration has sent 8,500 service members to the US-Mexico border and 5,000 people, including 700 Marines, to Los Angeles to protect buildings and ice agents who have been pushed back for wiping out immigrant raids.
And on Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that less than 70 Florida State Guard Forces would provide base camp security to the remote immigration detention center in the Everglades, known as the “Alligator Alcatraz.”
