Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be stationed outside Marine Corps graduation ceremonies as part of the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown.
ICE agents will be checking the immigration status of graduates’ family members in South Carolina on Friday, according to NBC News.
“Federal law enforcement personnel will be present at installation access points” at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot’s graduation in Parris Island, the corps’ website states, “to conduct enhanced screening and lawful immigration status inquiries during recruit family and graduation days.”
Those personnel, NBC News reported, will be members of ICE.
Family members of graduates seeking to attend Friday’s ceremonies will have to show either a REAL ID, a U.S. passport, or a U.S. birth certificate. Undocumented immigrants don’t have U.S. passports or birth certificates, and are “generally ineligible” for REAL IDs, according to NBC.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Daily Beast that ICE “will not be making arrests at the basic training graduation in Paris Island, SC.” The spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked if ICE would make arrests at a later date using personal information obtained at graduation.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Parris Island recruit depot told NBC, “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,” the spokesperson added.
Parris Island is also open to family and friends of graduates on the Wednesday and Thursday before graduation.
It’s unclear how long ICE agents will be posted outside Parris Island graduation ceremonies, or if they will be present at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego as well. That facility’s website does not currently have the same statement about federal law enforcement. A graduation ceremony is also scheduled there for Friday.
There are 37 graduation ceremonies planned through next March at the corps’ South Carolina location. One company from one of three battalions graduates at a time. Each company has between six and eight platoons, and one platoon has 60 to 80 recruits.
The latest deployment of ICE agents follows a controversial year for the department, previously run by Kristi Noem.
Federal agents shot and killed American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti during protests against ICE raids in Minneapolis in January.
President Trump issued a directive for his new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to station ICE officers at airports earlier this month. The order was aimed at helping understaffed TSA agents who have been impacted by partial government shutdown, leading to lengthy security screening queues.
