Gordon Greenlights Guard Deployment to Support Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is jumping into President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration dragnet—and he’s bringing the Wyoming National Guard with him, Oil City News reports.

Gordon is one of about 20 Republican governors who’ve agreed to send guard members to assist US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of Trump’s aggressive new push to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. A spokesperson for Gordon confirmed the move Monday, though key details—like how many troops, what they’ll be doing, and where they’ll be sent—are still in the air.

“We’re still working out the specifics,” Gordon’s spokesman Michael Pearlman told WyoFile. “We’re waiting for more information from federal partners.”

But what’s clear is this: Wyoming Guard troops could soon find themselves helping with ICE operations—processing paperwork, working in detention centers, or even transporting detainees.

According to a leaked memo obtained by The New York Times, ICE may use National Guard troops for administrative work like filing detention paperwork. That would free up ICE agents to go after immigrants in the field. But other reports, like one from NPR, suggest DHS is also eyeing guard troops as detention officers or even boots on the ground pursuing “fugitives.”

And while Wyoming doesn’t have a dedicated ICE detention center, the agency is already using jails in Natrona and Sweetwater counties to house immigrants—many of whom were transferred from an overcapacity private detention facility in Aurora, Colorado.

So it’s not far-fetched to think some of those guard members could end up helping out in other states—or even nearby county jails.

 “This one is a little different, obviously,” said Joseph Coslett, strategic communications director for the Wyoming National Guard. “We have to work with our national partners, and there’s still a lot of questions.”

The ultimate decision—how many troops to deploy, and what they’ll be doing—rests with Gordon.

This announcement comes hot on the heels of another controversial move: Gordon recently revealed that some Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers will also assist in immigration enforcement.

This isn’t the first time Trump’s used military force in domestic immigration efforts. In May, The New York Times reported that DHS asked the Department of Defense to deploy 20,000 National Guard troops. Some were even sent into Los Angeles to tamp down protests over ICE raids—backed by U.S. Marines.

And the resources keep flowing. In July, the Republican-controlled Congress passed a massive spending package that tripled ICE’s budget, bringing it to a whopping $28 billion. That money is going to hire more agents, expand detention facilities, and contract with county jails and for-profit prison companies.

Even as Trump ramps things up, this new deployment uses a different legal play. Unlike in L.A., where Trump federalized the California Guard, this operation relies on governors voluntarily committing their state’s troops—with the federal government footing the bill.

For now, Gordon’s office says Wyoming isn’t looking to build a new migrant detention facility, despite new federal funding that’s been made available for just that purpose. But that doesn’t stop ICE or private prison contractors from trying to set one up here in the future.

Currently, five Wyoming sheriffs already work with ICE through agreements that allow them to hold local arrestees flagged for immigration violations. But with Aurora’s detention center overloaded and more pressure coming from Washington, Wyoming jails could become a bigger piece of ICE’s expanding infrastructure.

For now, all eyes are on the August deployment. The Trump administration wants to move fast—and with cooperation from Republican-led states like Wyoming, it may very well get its wish.

But with the Guard being pulled into domestic immigration enforcement, critics are already raising alarms about the militarization of immigration policy—and what that means for communities, law enforcement, and the balance of state and federal power.