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President Trump’s growing use of military force in immigration enforcement is a dangerous erosion of the line between civilian and military authority—one that threatens the constitutional balance and civil liberties at the heart of American democracy.
A newly leaked Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by The New Republic, combined with recent federal court rulings and press coverage of indiscriminate enforcement in Los Angeles, reveals a chilling effort to use military force against civilian populations under the pretext of immigration control.
The memo urges senior Pentagon leaders to deepen cooperation with DHS on immigration operations—not just at the southern border, but in cities like Los Angeles. It calls for military personnel to be detailed inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to support planning and operational logistics. It praises recent military-style raids in Los Angeles as a model for future deployments and likens threats from Central and South American street gangs to those posed by Al Qaeda or ISIS.
The document reveals a July 21 meeting between top DHS and Department of Defense officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, and NORTHCOM Commander Gregory Guillot. The aim of the meeting was to secure high-level buy-in from Pentagon leadership to increase the role of the military in domestic immigration enforcement.