U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro says members of the Texas National Guard are quietly working inside federal immigration detention facilities in South Texas, including the South Texas Family Residential Center outside Dilley, and that some are doing it in civilian clothes. His claim follows a recent visit to the Dilley site and a confirmed measles outbreak that has already raised alarms about how detainees are being treated. If verified, the Guard’s presence inside family detention centers would mark a notable expansion of the military’s role in immigration operations in Texas.
What Castro Said
In a live video and subsequent interviews, Castro said the Guard deployments began “sometime last year,” involve “hundreds” of soldiers statewide, and were described to him by federal immigration staff who were not allowed to speak publicly. Some Guard members, he said, are working in civilian clothing.
“They’re basically camouflaged as civilians,” Castro said, recounting what he was told about how at least some of the troops are dressed. According to the San Antonio Express-News, he said Guard personnel were operating at Dilley, at the Pearsall processing center, and at other immigration sites around the state.
Measles Outbreak And High-Profile Releases
The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed two measles cases at the Dilley center and said ICE Health Services Corps “immediately took steps to quarantine and control further spread,” including halting movement inside the facility, reporting by Newsweek notes. State health officials confirmed the infections on Jan. 31, and ICE said medical staff are monitoring detainees who may have been exposed.
Dilley drew national attention after Castro and Rep. Jasmine Crockett visited a 5-year-old boy detained there. A federal judge later ordered the child and his father released, and they were returned to Minnesota, Associated Press reporting shows. That family’s case followed earlier coverage by Hoodline of the Columbia Heights arrests and transfers to Texas that first landed them in federal custody.
How The Guard Has Been Used In Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly tapped the Texas National Guard for state missions tied to his border and public-safety agenda. That includes a June call-up of more than 5,000 Guard soldiers and 2,000 Department of Public Safety troopers ahead of planned immigration protests across the state, according to Texas Public Radio.
Separately, some Guard units were federalized last fall under Title 10 and sent to the Chicago area to protect ICE personnel and federal property, a move that sparked legal challenges, as reported by The Texas Tribune. Those earlier deployments help explain how Guard members might now be supporting operations at immigration processing or detention sites, advocates and lawmakers say, even if the details inside Dilley remain murky.
What Officials Are Saying, And Not Saying
The Texas Military Department, Abbott’s office and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately answer questions about whether Guard troops are working inside facilities like Dilley, whether any are wearing civilian clothes, or what jobs they might be performing there, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Castro said his information came from federal immigration personnel who are not authorized to speak publicly and that he raised the claims to spur oversight, transparency and a clearer public accounting of who exactly is working inside family detention centers.
Legal Questions Piling Up
Legal experts say the use of state military forces in immigration enforcement, particularly if soldiers are indistinguishable from civilian contractors, raises complex questions about the Posse Comitatus Act, the dividing line between state and federal command, and whether the deployments are being properly authorized.
Courts have already weighed in on some Title 10 federalizations in other contexts, and those rulings could shape oversight of any Guard activity tied to ICE operations in Texas, The Texas Tribune reported. For now, those legal fights are mostly playing out on paper while the on-the-ground questions at Dilley keep multiplying.
What Comes Next
Physicians at UT Health San Antonio have warned that releasing or transferring detainees during a measles outbreak risks spreading the virus beyond detention walls and urged a coordinated public-health response, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Lawmakers, advocates and public-health officials say they plan to keep pressing for details about who is staffing federal immigration facilities, what roles those workers are playing and what medical safeguards are in place as the measles response continues and scrutiny of the Dilley center intensifies.
