"That is 100 percent not true. It is false," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, according to The Hill. "It is irresponsible to be saying this."
The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration was considering deploying as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up illegal immigrants in places as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans. The wire service cited an 11-page draft memo written by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and dated Jan. 25.
An unidentified official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told Cox Media Group that the memo was "a very early, pre-decisional draft" that was "never seriously considered."
National Guard officials said the agency had not gotten any orders to mobilize in connection with the draft memo.
"We have received no official notification to execute any activations at this time," National Guard Bureau spokeswoman Lynn Kirby said.
A Defense Department spokesman echoed the National Guard in a statement to Bloomberg Politics.
According to the AP, the draft memo was sent to the heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and was meant to support an executive order on border security signed Jan. 25.
Among other things, the order increased the number of border patrol agents and expanded the number of immigration enforcement officers able to deport illegal immigrants.
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