Letter: Governor should not be deploying National Guard to help ICE

When I heard that Governor Dunleavy was providing five Alaska National Guard members to “assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Anchorage with administrative support,” I wondered several things:

Why is ICE, which is the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the U.S. government, unable to hire its own personnel?

Does anyone actually understand the purpose of the National Guard? According to its own website, “The National Guard is the primary combat reserve of the Army and Air Force, seamlessly providing enduring, rotational, surge and follow-on forces to the Joint Force to fight and win the nation’s wars and defend the homeland. Unique to the National Guard is our ability to apply the personnel, training and equipment for our wartime missions and our state responses in the homeland. When disaster strikes in the homeland, the National Guard stands ready to deploy and serve at a moment’s notice to protect life and property in our communities.” 

Why should National Guard members be used for “processing purchasing orders” and other clerical duties, according to the National Guard statement, as was reported?

The Alaska National Guard belongs to our state. To us. The Guard should not be deployed to help ICE, a federal agency with a toxic overreach that has caused and is continuing to cause immense suffering throughout our country.

Bridget Smith

Juneau