The National Guard presence in Washington has surged to nearly 2,300 troops as part of President Donald Trump’s law-and-order initiative in the nation’s capital.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is mobilizing another 1,700 National Guard members across 19 states to bolster federal immigration enforcement.
A spokesperson for Joint Task Force–D.C. told The Epoch Times in an Aug. 24 emailed statement that reinforcements have been arriving from West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. The combined force now totals about 2,270 National Guard members.
“Their goal is strengthening the mission to secure our monuments, protect federal facilities, support community safety, and address crime spikes in Washington,” the statement reads. “We are committed to the safety and beautification of DC.”
More Than 1,000 Arrests
The new arrivals build on an initial 800-strong force that Trump ordered into the capital earlier in August when he federalized the city’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,” Trump said at an Aug. 11 White House press briefing.
The Pentagon has since confirmed that guard members in Washington will soon begin carrying service-issued weapons “consistent with their mission and training” as they work to lower the city’s crime rate.
Joint Task Force–D.C. stated that guard units in Washington began carrying their service weapons on Aug. 24. It emphasized that military rules require force to be used “only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the crackdown has already resulted in more than 1,000 arrests and the seizure of more than 100 illegal firearms.
“Last night, another 86 arrests, including multiple suspects accused of assaulting law enforcement and National Guard—and a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member,” Bondi said in an Aug. 25 post on X. “Every day of our mission we are making DC safe again.”
Trump on Aug. 25 expanded his crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, directing federal agencies to hire more Park Police and prosecutors, set up rapid response law enforcement and National Guard units, scrutinize Washington housing and transit for safety violations, and pressure the mayor to update city police policies to further “address the crime emergency and ensure public order and safety.”
Reinforcements for ICE
While federal forces expand in the capital, the Defense Department on July 25 announced a parallel mobilization of roughly 1,700 National Guard personnel nationwide to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In a shift from previous reliance on the Marines and the Navy Reserve, the National Guard will operate under Title 32 status, remaining under state governors’ control but with federal funding.
The National Guard’s duties will include case management, transportation, and logistical support, as well as clerical assistance for ICE detention facilities.
“By providing these crucial services, [Defense Department] military personnel directly enable ICE to dedicate more trained agents to core law enforcement activities, significantly enhancing overall effectiveness,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The reclassification allows National Guard members to have direct interaction with detainees, including for the collection of fingerprints, DNA, and photographs, a Pentagon official told Fox News, noting that the mobilization covers 19 states.
White House border czar Tom Homan described the National Guard as a “force multiplier” for ICE, which he said is trying to track nearly 700,000 illegal immigrants with criminal histories.
“ICE is overwhelmed,” Homan told NewsNation. “ICE has less than 5,000 deportation officers. We’ve got well over 20 million illegal aliens.”
Homan said National Guard members will not conduct arrests but will support ICE’s casework and intelligence, expanding the agency’s reach as the Trump administration seeks to accelerate deportations of criminal noncitizens.
The dual missions—thousands of troops on the streets of Washington and nearly 2,000 more inside immigration facilities nationwide—are part of the Trump administration’s use of military support for domestic law enforcement.
Criticism and Legal Fight
The president and his supporters say the moves restore order, prevent crime, and relieve overwhelmed agencies. Critics argue that they risk militarizing civil functions and stretching the National Guard thin as governors juggle deployments with disaster response needs at home.
“Let us be clear: armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a recent post on X.
“Instead of making DC more secure, it undermines public safety and endangers our democracy.
“It’s DC today, but the same dangerous strategy can be deployed to occupy any American community.”
Schwalb has sued to block Trump’s federalization of the MPD, arguing that Bondi’s directive replacing Chief Pamela Smith with Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner” violated the Home Rule Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Constitution.
His complaint warned that the move endangered public safety by throwing the MPD command structure into disarray.
During a hearing, District Judge Ana Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia pushed both sides toward compromise. She threatened to issue an order blocking the appointment of a new chief if they failed to agree.
Bondi later revised her directive, abandoning the provision that gave Cole full control of MPD. Instead, she listed specific “services” the department must provide—including assistance with federal immigration enforcement—and tasked Cole with overseeing those functions.
Following the change, Schwalb withdrew his request for a temporary restraining order, although the case remains open with additional hearings expected.
Trump has justified the takeover by citing what he described as a wave of violent crime. While crime rates in Washington remain above the national average, Justice Department figures and MPD data show that they have declined over the past two years.
In her latest directive, Bondi accused some city officials of manipulating crime statistics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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