
DHS asks for 20,000 National Guard troops for immigration roundups
By TARA COPP and REBECCA SANTANA
The Department of Homeland Security has asked for 20,000 National Guard troops to assist with immigration roundups across the country, and the Pentagon is reviewing the unusual request, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press.
DHS asked for the troops to help carry out President Donald Trump's 'mandate from the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens,' department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. She said DHS will 'use every tool and resource available" to do so because the 'safety of American citizens comes first.'
Unlike the troops deployed at the southern border, these National Guard units would come from the states and be used to assist in deportation operations in the interior of the country.
How the troops would be used may depend on whether they remain under state governors' control. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops under federal orders cannot be used for domestic law enforcement, but units under state control can.
The addition of 20,000 National Guard troops would provide a huge boost to immigration enforcement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the DHS agency responsible for immigration enforcement in the interior of the country, has a total staff of about 20,000 people spread across three divisions.
Enforcement and Removals Operations, which is the division directly responsible for arresting and removing people who do not have the right to stay in the country, has a total staff of roughly 7,700 people, including a little over 6,000 law enforcement officers.
It was unclear why the request was made to the Defense Department and not to the states. The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public.
Trump has been carrying out a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigration, issuing a series of executive orders designed to stop what he has called the 'invasion' of the United States.
The U.S. already has as many as 10,000 troops under state and federal orders along the U.S.-Mexico border, including some who are now empowered to detain migrants they encounter along a newly militarized narrow strip of land adjacent to the border.
So far, these troops have largely been limited to providing airlift, bolstering the wall, surveillance and administrative support to free up border agents for arrests or detentions.
Along the newly militarized zone, troops have put up warning signs and accompanied border agents but left the detention of migrants crossing the border to other agencies.
In New Mexico, where the new militarized zone was first created, federal magistrate judges have started dismissing national security charges against migrants accused of crossing the southern U.S. border through the newly designated military zone, finding little evidence that they were aware of the zone.
The request for 20,000 troops was first reported by The New York Times.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
U.S. tariff tussles stuff of nightmares for Bordeaux winemakers
A visitor enjoys the Bordeaux wine festival -- but US tariffs will hit hard a sector already under pressure By Marisol RIFAI French wine producers, already reeling from a downturn in their market, still do not know how bitter a taste the U.S. tariffs on wine will leave on their palates. In southwestern France, around the Bordeaux region's famed vineyards, months of talk on what U.S. President Donald Trump will decide on tariffs have been the stuff of nightmares for producers as they look on helplessly. The United States is by far the top export market for Bordeaux's wine, accounting for 400 million euros ($470 million) worth of annual sales -- or about 20 percent of the total. China lags behind with 300 million euros ahead of the United Kingdom with 200 million. Sunday's announcement of a trade deal between the United States and the European Union did not clear up what tariffs European wine and spirits producers will face in the United States. While Trump said European exports face 15 percent tariffs across the board, both sides said there would be carve-outs for certain sectors. EU head Ursula Von der Leyen said the bloc still hoped to secure further so-called "zero-for-zero" agreements, notably for alcohol, which she hoped to be "sorted out" in the coming days. Philippe Tapie, chairman of regional traders' union Bordeaux Negoce, which represents more than 90 percent of the wine trade in the Bordeaux area, is worried by the uncertainty. "One day, it is white, the next it is black -- the U.S. administration can change its mind from one day to the next and we have no visibility," he told AFP. In mid-March, Trump had threatened Brussels with 200 percent tariffs on alcohol in response to a proposed EU tax on U.S. bourbon. Then in April he brandished a new threat of 20 percent across the board on EU products, a threat ultimately suspended. Since then, the level first held at ten percent but, in late May, the U.S. leader threatened to revert to 50 percent before pivoting to 30 percent starting August 1st, the deadline for the negotiations with the EU that led to a preliminary accord after Trump and Von der Leyen met in Scotland on Sunday. "At 10 percent or 15 percent, we'll find solutions. At 30 percent, no. End of story," Tapie warned just ahead of the announcement as he criticized a "totally unpredictable American administration". To export wine, "there's a minimum of 30 days by boat. If you go to California, it's 60 days. We can't think in terms of weeks," says Tapie, who says he has "never been confronted with such a situation" in 30 years of business. Twins Bordeaux, one of Bordeaux's leading wine merchants, also laments the tariffs' impact. "The American market represents about a third of our turnover, or around 30 million euros," explains Sebastien Moses, co-director and co-owner of Twins, which usually ships upwards of a million bottles a year to the United States. Since January, "our turnover must have fallen by 50 percent compared to last year," he says. "So far, we've managed to save the situation, because as soon as Donald Trump was elected we anticipated this and sent as much stock as possible to the U.S.," explains Moses, though longer term he says this is not a "stable" strategy. As an attempted work around Twins Bordeaux even shipped cases of around 10,000 bottles by air in March. "But only very expensive wines, at no less than 150-200 euros per bottle, because by air it's at least two and a half times the price of shipping by sea," he said. For Bordeaux wine merchant Bouey, the U.S. market represents less than 10 percent of its exports. "We have long since undertaken a geographical expansion. Faced with the global chaos, commercial strategies can no longer be based on a single- or dual-country strategy," Jacques Bouey, its CEO, told AFP in April. The tariffs come with the industry already struggling with declining consumption that has led to overproduction and a collapse in bulk prices. By early 2023, a third of Bordeaux's approximately 5,000 wine growers admitted to being in difficulty. "We're starting to become world champions in terms of accumulating problems," complained Tapie. © 2025 AFP


Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
US, China to launch new talks on tariff truce extension, easing path for Trump-Xi meeting
FILE PHOTO: The American and Chinese flags are photographed on the negotiating table, during a bilateral meeting between the United States and China, in Geneva, Switzerland, May 10, 2025. KEYSTONE/EDA/Martial Trezzini/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo By David Lawder Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15% tariff on most EU goods exports to the U.S., including autos. The bloc will also buy $750 billion worth of American energy and make $600 billion worth of U.S. investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the U.S.-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters on Sunday before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. The Financial Times reported on Monday that the U.S. had paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with Xi this year. The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, had been told to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours. DEEPER ISSUES Previous U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing U.S. and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include U.S. complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that U.S. national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome," Kennedy said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption -- a decades-long goal for U.S. policymakers. Analysts say the U.S.-China negotiations are far more complex than those with other Asian countries and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on U.S. industries. TRUMP-XI MEETING? In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said that a Trump-Xi summit would be an opportunity for the U.S. to lower the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl. In exchange, he said the Chinese side could make good on its 2020 pledge to increase purchases of U.S. farm products and other goods. "The future prospect of the heads of state summit is very beneficial to the negotiations because everyone wants to reach an agreement or pave the way in advance," Sun said. Still, China will likely request a reduction of multi-layered U.S. tariffs totaling 55% on most goods and further easing of U.S. high-tech export controls, analysts said. Beijing has argued that such purchases would help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024. © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.


Kyodo News
8 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: July 28, 2025
TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- SDF request led to nuclear threat scenario in Japan-U.S. exercise TOKYO - The Japanese Self-Defense Forces strongly urged the U.S. military during a joint command post exercise last year to mirror any nuclear threat made by China with one of its own, government sources said Sunday. The United States ultimately complied with the request in the simulation exercise that envisioned a potential invasion of Taiwan by Beijing, raising concerns that Japan's push to invoke nuclear deterrence could exacerbate tensions between the United States and China. ---------- U.S., EU clinch trade deal setting 15% tariff on most European goods TURNBERRY, Scotland - The United States on Sunday clinched a trade agreement with the European Union, setting a 15 percent across-the-board tariff on cars and most other goods from the 27-member bloc, President Donald Trump said, calling the deal "very satisfactory to both sides." Under the agreement, the EU will buy $750 billion worth of American energy and invest an additional $600 billion in the world's largest economy, Trump said following a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. ---------- Baseball: Ichiro reflects on legendary career in Hall of Fame speech COOPERSTOWN, New York - Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese member of the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame, shared his inspiration to play in the majors while thanking his family and teammates in his induction speech Sunday. The former Seattle Mariners outfielder began his speech in Cooperstown, New York, by calling himself a third-time rookie, now as a member of the hall, after being a rookie in Japan in 1992 and a major league rookie in 2001 at age 27. ---------- Nobel panel, A-bomb survivors urge youth to carry torch of peace TOKYO - The Norwegian Nobel Committee and Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors, jointly urged younger generations at an event Sunday in Tokyo to "carry the torch" for peace by listening to the stories of survivors and keeping up the momentum for nuclear disarmament. "The nuclear taboo is under threat, and the hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) are aging. In not too many years, we will no longer have the testimonies of those who were there, those who could tell this story," said Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes. ---------- 3 suspected drones intruded on premises of Japan nuclear complex TOKYO - Three bright objects believed to be drones intruded on the premises of the Genkai nuclear power complex in southwestern Japan, the country's nuclear watchdog said Sunday, correcting its statement the previous day that drones had been spotted. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said Saturday it was informed of the incident by Kyushu Electric Power Co., the operator of the four-reactor Genkai Nuclear Power Station. ---------- U.S. brokers cease-fire after Cambodia, Thailand border clashes WASHINGTON/BANGKOK - The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to meet immediately and work on a cease-fire following cross-border attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday after speaking with them by phone. Clashes between Thailand and Cambodia in a disputed border area have continued since Thursday, leaving several people dead including civilians. Each side has accused the other of initiating the fighting. ---------- Video: Fireworks light up summer skies over Tokyo's Sumida River