Adj. Gen. Craig Strong who oversees the Nebraska National Guard and Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, right, joins Gov. Jim Pillen at a news conference to celebrate legislation for Guard recruitment and retention. Dec. 10, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
OMAHA — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen clarified that the Nebraska National Guard’s role in the use of the McCook Work Ethic Camp as a federal detention facility for migrants will be administrative and not law enforcement.
The governor answered questions about the role during a news conference on a separate topic Monday in Douglas County. He said the 20 troops participating at the McCook-based U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation will do DNA swabs, fingerprint detainees and similar work.
He said he asked the Guard for volunteers and said the 20 headed to McCook will “not be doing any arresting.” He said their work “will be administrative support for ICE.” He said the facility would come online for immigration use within 45 days.
“We feel really, really proud that we’re able to play a part in that, to make sure we’re safe,” Pillen said. “This is about safety, not immigration.”
Critics have described the detention facilities as inhumane and said they are part of a national effort by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to get migrants swept up in stings to self-deport rather than fight their cases in court.
Pillen was asked about a Fox News report that said several states, including Nebraska, were about to send National Guard troops to help in immigration and in some cases policing roles in major cities. He said Nebraska’s help is in McCook.
Pillen said he and Nebraska Guard leaders had not discussed assisting the Trump administration in a criminal justice capacity in Washington, D.C., Chicago or other targeted Democratic-led cities.
“We’re a state of 2 million people,” he said. “We’re out-kicking our coverage here, but we can’t do everything.”
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