Rep. Dan Goldman Introduces Amendment Barring National Guard from Conducting Immigration Enforcement

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman led 23 House Democrats in introducing an amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit any federal funds from being used to deploy the National Guard for purposes of immigration enforcement. Goldman’s amendment comes as the Trump administration has stationed Guard units at ICE facilities across the country, including in Washington, D.C. and California, and has threatened to send troops into cities like New York, Chicago, and New Orleans to bolster his anti-immigrant crackdown. 

 

“The use of armed soldiers, often with obscured identities, to patrol American streets and assist in immigration raids is a direct assault on the rule of law and a terrifying step toward turning our military into Trump’s personal police force,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Congress cannot allow the National Guard to become a weapon for the president to exact vengeance on his opponents and terrorize our communities. My amendment makes clear that our troops cannot be misused for these political stunts, and I urge my colleagues from the ‘party of small government’ to join this commonsense effort.” 

 

In July, the Trump administration authorized the deployment of the National Guard to provide ICE agents with direct protection and security for operations and personnel during immigration enforcement actions, particularly in response to concerns about violence and disorder at protest sites, as well as administrative, clerical, case management, and transportation assistance. The deployments come as the Trump administration has used masked, plainclothes ICE agents to arrest law-abiding immigrants outside immigration courthouses and detain them in inhumane conditions without any oversight from other branches of government. 

 

Congressman Goldman has led House Democrats’ opposition to the Trump administration’s lawless immigration crackdown. 

 

In July, Congressman Goldman and 11 other Members of Congress filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration last month over its continued refusal to allow members of Congress to access ICE detention facilities, including the 26 Federal Plaza, which is also located in the Congressman’s district. 

 

In August, Congressman Goldman and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led over 50 of their colleagues in demanding an immediate investigation into alarming reports that U.S. citizens are being wrongfully detained and deported by federal immigration agents under the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies. In a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal oversight offices, the lawmakers raised urgent concerns about a growing pattern of civil rights violations against U.S. citizens during immigration sweeps. 

 

This summer, Goldman and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat introduced the ‘No Secret Police Act,’ which would require law enforcement officers and agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) engaged in border security and civil immigration enforcement to clearly display identification and insignia when detaining or arresting individuals and to ban them from using home-made, non-tactical masks.