- About 120 Michigan Army National Guard soldiers will be deployed to the nation’s southwest border, state officials said Thursday
- Troops were activated under federal Title 10 orders, which President Trump has also used to deploy the National Guard in US cities
- It’s the Michigan National Guard’s sixth deployment to the southwest border since 2020, with deployments under both Biden and Trump
Roughly 120 Michigan National Guard troops are being deployed to the US southern border amid a federal crackdown in illegal immigration, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs announced Thursday.
The soldiers from Michigan’s 1430th Engineer Company are being activated under federal Title 10 orders, meaning they were directed by President Donald Trump to report for active-duty military service.
The deployment is expected to last up to a year and involves “mission enhancing support” for US Customs and Border Protection agents conducting security operations and law enforcement at the southwest border, state officials said in a Thursday news release.
No other specifics about the nature of the mission were immediately available, though department spokesperson Michael Kroll said no costs to the state of Michigan are expected.
Officials said the latest deployment is the Michigan National Guard’s sixth to the southwest border since 2020, and the first in Trump’s second term.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer approved deployments in 2021, 2022 and 2024 under President Joe Biden and in 2020 during Trump’s first term. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the upcoming deployment.
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Michigan Republican legislative leaders last year had requested state funds to send National Guard troops to the border. At the time, Whitmer’s office said she was serious about immigration and border security but that “the American people want real solutions.”
Illegal border crossings have plummeted this year under Trump. Border Patrol officials reported 204 apprehensions per day in August, a 94% reduction from 2024, according to the administration.
Trump’s expanded use of National Guard forces has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, particularly Title 10 orders to deploy troops in US cities such as Washington DC, Chicago, Portland and Memphis.
That effort, which Trump has said is aimed at reducing violent crime and supporting his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, is facing legal challenges from several states that claim the Trump administration is exceeding its authority by deploying state National Guard units without consent from governors.
Speaking to reporters at a National Press Foundation event last week, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser argued the National Guard is “not a law enforcement agency — they’re not an agency that should be used to police Americans.”
Guard troops haven’t been deployed for that purpose in any Michigan cities, though Vice President JD Vance recently floated the idea of deploying troops to Detroit if Whitmer asked. Some Republican candidates have said Michigan officials should take the Trump administration up on the offer, but Whitmer declined, calling the tactic “unwarranted.”
The 1430th Engineer Company being deployed to the southwest border is based out of Traverse City and last deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. More recently, soldiers with the company worked with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on state park infrastructure improvement projects.
A departure ceremony ahead of the group’s deployment is scheduled for Friday in Kalamazoo.
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.