Federal immigration agents will be stationed at Marine Corps graduation events this week, the service has announced, raising fears that undocumented relatives celebrating their loved ones’ achievements will be seized and deported. The service is presenting the unusual move as a security enhancement for family events over the next few days at the Parris Island Marine Corps recruiting depot in South Carolina.
From Wednesday, relatives will be able to visit the training base, and attend a formal graduation ceremony on Friday. A message on the installation’s website cited “increased force protection measures” and said federal law enforcement personnel “will be present at installation access points to conduct enhanced screening and lawful immigration status inquiries during recruit family and graduation days”.
Yet similar to the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to a number of US airports this week amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, their specific responsibilities and powers were not immediately apparent. The Guardian has contacted the homeland security department (DHS) for comment.
Meanwhile, NBC News, quoting an unidentified DHS spokesperson, reported that the action was not intended to result in detentions. “ICE will not be making arrests at the basic training graduation in Paris Island, SC,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the base told the outlet: “While the Marine Corps routinely coordinates with federal partners on security matters, this is the first time in recent memory that federal law enforcement agencies have supported base access operations at Parris Island in this capacity. “To help ensure a smooth and timely process, guests should bring proper identification and limit the number of items they carry onto the installation.” Neither statement specified how the federal immigration agents would integrate with existing base security, or if the deployment would be repeated at other military facilities hosting graduation events.