White House Denies Report Trump Is Considering Deploying National Guard To Round Up Illegals

The White House denied an Associated Press story Thursday that reported the Trump administration is considering deploying up to 100,000 National Guard troops to help round up illegal immigrants.

The AP report said that the Department of Homeland Security drafted an 11-page document calling for the mobilization of troops in Oregon, Louisiana, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The memo states the soldiers would not be nationalized and instead the federal government would ask the governors of the respective states to authorize the guardsmen to  “perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters after the story broke that is “is 100 percent not true.”

“It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this,” Spicer added. While the AP report says that that it reached out to the White House before publishing, Spicer said, “I wish you guys had asked before you tweeted.” Spicer denied that it is a “White House document,” but wouldn’t categorically deny whether this idea had been considered within the administration.

A DHS official later said that the memo a “very early, pre-decisional draft… and was never seriously considered by the department.”