Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is in the process of authorizing Nevada’s National Guard to “temporarily” support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the governor’s office confirmed to The Nevada Independent on Friday.

Such a deployment of troops — whose responsibilities typically include responding to natural disasters or helping with overseas missions — marks a drastic escalation of their prior use as it relates to immigration enforcement. Using the national guard often hinges on the explicit consent of a state’s governor, and the extent of their work in assisting ICE is decided by each state’s governor.

“Governor Lombardo is in the process of authorizing the Nevada National Guard to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a temporary, administrative capacity,” Elizabeth Ray, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told The Indy. 

A spokesperson for the Nevada National Guard said that “the request focuses on clerical, administrative and logistical support — not law enforcement duties” and that about 35 guardsmen, representing less than 1 percent of the state’s entire National Guard, will support the request. The Secretary of Defense has authorized military personnel to be assigned for operations through Nov. 15, the spokesperson added.

“While the Nevada National Guard has not received orders for support operations, the state’s military force is working on determining the Soldiers involved on a volunteer basis in anticipation of the orders,” the Nevada National Guard said in a statement. 

It comes after Lombardo signed onto a statement in December with other Republican governors that said they were “fully committed to supporting the Trump Administration’s efforts to deport dangerous criminals, gang members, and terrorists.” ICE arrests in Nevada have surged since Trump took office in January.

The Friday authorization marks a more concrete step toward involving the Guard, which is made up largely of people with other day jobs who take on military duties when needed. 

Cecelia Gonzalez, the chair of Nevada’s Latino Legislative Caucus, denounced the move on X, writing that the Caucus “will not stay silent as our families are ripped apart and our economy takes a hit. [Lombardo] needs to be held accountable for his complicity.” 

In Nevada, the Guard would be activated through a legal code known as Title 32, confirmed by the Bureau. This means that the governor has been authorized or directed by the president to activate the National Guard, but that troops remain under state control with pay and benefits provided by the federal government. The deployment in Nevada will be fully federally funded.

The activation of Title 32 would open the possibility of the troops doing domestic law enforcement work. 

“The specific tasks and timeline for full deployment by National Guard personnel from each state will be determined by the respective Governors in coordination with their local ICE office,” the National Guard Bureau told The Indy. 

The authorization comes after National Guard troops were activated in Florida earlier this week, also using Title 32. Prior reporting from The New York Times found that the Trump administration authorized the deployment of the National Guard to support DHS in about 20 states, including Texas and Virginia, although Nevada’s inclusion has not been widely reported. The New York Times did not further report when the rest of these rollouts will take place and the entirety of their scope. 

But in a July press statement, the Pentagon said that guardsmen who participate in those immigration enforcement activities will provide support in areas such as “case management, transportation and logistical support, and clerical support for the in-and out-processing of illegal aliens at ICE detention facilities.”  

Earlier Friday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) announced he activated his state’s National Guard alongside a greater nationwide push that the Defense Department authorized to start immediately and last through Nov. 15. Little said that the 14 Idaho National Guard staffers dedicated to the assignment would work on administrative and clerical tasks, freeing up ICE to do law enforcement, and that they would be federally funded.

The idea of using the National Guard to bolster immigration enforcement has been months in the making. In December, Lombardo, alongside nearly every other Republican governor, said in a joint statement they would be open to deploying the National Guard to support immigration enforcement activities if called to do so by the Trump Administration. When asked again later if he would deploy them, Lombardo said, “It’s too soon to opine on the nebulous or the unknown.”

It marks the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, which has rattled the state’s undocumented community of about 200,000. Already, immigration arrests in Nevada have ballooned more than 300 percent in comparison to the same period last year, and on Tuesday, the entire state was deemed a “sanctuary state” by the federal government — a designation that could threaten millions in federal funds.

It’s not clear what led to the designation, but an executive order directed executive agencies to "pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States." 

Lombardo has previously rejected deploying the National Guard on immigration-related assignments, including sending them to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024. In a 2022 debate, he said that sending them to the border would be excessively expensive. 

Typically, the Guard provides logistical support in ways that don’t interact directly with migrants, leaving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and detain unauthorized immigrants. 

Nevada’s National Guard, which is affiliated with the Army and Air Force, is about 4,500 people strong as of 2022, and includes approximately 3,300 soldiers and 1,200 airmen. Most guardsmen only serve part time; they are required to participate in military training one weekend a month and 15 days each year in their respective military occupations.

Members of the National Guard are also eligible on a case-by-case basis for an immigrant benefit status known as Parole in Place that lets undocumented family members of U.S. military personnel, veterans and enlistees stay in the United States legally. 

Updated on Aug. 8, 2025 at 5:05 p.m. to add that Gov. Joe Lombardo plans on authorizing deployment and with additional comment from legislators. 

Updated on Aug. 8, 2025 at 5:56 p.m. with comment from the Nevada National Guard.