Twenty-five Las Vegas-based Nevada National Guard soldiers are now working alongside federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, marking a significant escalation in the state’s role in federal immigration enforcement. Mayor Shelley Berkley confirmed that Governor Joe Lombardo told her 25 soldiers are helping in Las Vegas, while five soldiers are in the Reno area.
The mayor’s immediate response to hearing the news was direct action. “I called the governor to say, ‘What’s going on here,'” she said, as reported by 8 News Now. The governor assured her the work is “clerical,” though the deployment has sparked fierce political debate about the militarization of immigration enforcement.
Administrative Support Role Defined
The Nevada National Guard will help with form filling, record maintenance, call handling, bookkeeping, report preparation, case management and vehicle maintenance, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting on the governor’s office statements. Up to 35 of approximately 4,500 Nevada National Guard soldiers will assist the Department of Homeland Security, with the governor’s office emphasizing that each member volunteered.
The mission operates under federal Title 32 status, which keeps guard members under the governor’s command but allows them to work with ICE, as detailed by Fox 5 Vegas. The Secretary of Defense has authorized the Nevada National Guard’s ICE support mission through mid-November.
Where Operations Are Focused
The Las Vegas-area soldiers are likely supporting operations connected to the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office at 501 South Las Vegas Boulevard Suite 200, which handles immigration bonds and case processing for Southern Nevada, as per the Center for Immigration Assistance documentation. The region also includes the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump at 2190 E Mesquite Avenue, a CoreCivic-operated facility that houses ICE detainees, as confirmed by ICE official records.
Political Backlash Intensifies
The deployment has created stark political divisions across Nevada. The Nevada National Guard’s mission is to protect us, not sow more fear in our communities by doing Trump’s dirty work, Rep. Dina Titus said last Friday on X. The Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus issued a statement saying Lombardo has chosen Trump over Nevada…