A murky future: Nevada officials weigh in on potential Trump deportations

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on launching the largest deportation in American history, but the details of how he could get it done once he takes office remain fuzzy — and would likely require the help of state and local officials who are either wavering or uncommitted.

Trump has long said there are millions of immigrants invading the country, but transition officials have not been forthcoming about how the policy would be carried out for a state like Nevada — where roughly 19 percent of the population are immigrants — though that could change when Trump takes office Monday.

Some Nevada officials are hesitant to commit to helping fulfill his plans, with logistical questions about funding, resources, court capacity, detention space and intergovernmental participation.

Others, however, are drawing the line where their participation will end.

Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a letter with other Republican governors “fully committing” to Trump’s immigration plans — but he has since said that he does not think mass deportation is appropriate.

“There’s a lot of functionality in the immigration space that I’m familiar with due to my experience as a sheriff,” he said during a meeting with reporters last week. The former Clark County sheriff said resources will take an “exorbitant amount of time to deal with,” and a lack of staffing in ICE could also bring challenges.

“It’s a matter of them rebuilding the machine in order to accomplish what they want to accomplish,” he said. “That takes quite some time.”

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who has announced his intent to run against Lombardo in 2026 and shared what immigrants should know when stopped by police, is not opposed to all of Trump’s proposals. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he supports removing violent criminals.

“Keeping our communities safe is not a controversial statement,” the attorney general said. “It is my job, and I intend to that, and I support policies that do that.”

Ford also said he would work with the Trump administration to combat fentanyl flowing from across the border and fighting sex trafficking. He rejected classifying Nevada as a “sanctuary state” and said the federal government may lawfully carry out their plans, but not on Nevada’s dime — and not while violating people’s rights.

“What I am not interested in doing is participating in indiscriminate mass raids and deportations in our immigrant communities absent of protections that are afforded to everybody under the law,” he said.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Trump’s campaign promise is a “nice, handy phrase,” but that he was awaiting specifics.

‘The devil is in the details,” the Northern Nevada representative said, adding that words like “mass” still need to be defined. Amodei said “low hanging fruit” such as convicted felons and gang members can be the start of the plan, as well as those who are already in custody.

“When I think of the plans, let’s chop that wood in front of us that’s the closest and right in front of us,” he said. “And then as we get through that, which won’t happen in 30 days, the challenge is to make it happen as fast as possible. Then let’s see what we got left.”

No change seen in ICE interaction

Another unclear factor is what role U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could play in the Silver State if Trump were to carry out his calls for mass deportations.

Nevada’s collaboration with ICE is limited to local jails and Nevada prisons, however no police department in the state takes part in ICE’s 287(g) program, which deputizes local officers at jails to perform immigration duties. So far, Southern Nevada police departments and local jails have not changed their policies when it comes to how they handle immigrants under ICE’s scrutiny.

The Metropolitan Police Department had collaborated with ICE through the Clark County Detention Center, where it would screen inmates and cross-reference them with ICE databases. They would detain the inmates on their release from custody, giving federal agents 48 hours to pick them up. That level of cooperation ended in 2019 after a court ruled that the so-called ICE detainers were only allowed in states with laws that address civil immigration arrests.

A 2021 Review-Journal investigation, however, revealed that Metro continued a version of the practice without making it public, leading to inmates with nonviolent charges being turned over to immigration authorities.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill declined an interview for the story. Metro’s current policy, provided by the department, states that while Nevada peace officers have the authority to assist in enforcing federal laws, they “will not enforce immigration violations.”

“Officers will not stop and question, detain, arrest, or place an immigration hold on any individuals on the grounds they are an undocumented immigrant,” the policy states.

The police department screens inmates for ICE warrants before they’re released and informs ICE when there’s a database hit, according to Metro. It also reports foreign-born suspects arrested and charged with a violent felony, suspicion of DUI or domestic violence, according to its policy.

A similar process occurs in Henderson. Police cross-reference inmates at the jail and places holds when requested. It also contracts the Henderson Detention Center to house ICE detainees.

“The Henderson Police Department has not engaged in any discussions about changing our current policies,” according to a spokesperson. The department didn’t make Police Chief Hollie Chadwick available for an interview.

The Nevada Department of Corrections said it’s not planning to change its policy. Nevada, which housed 875 non-U.S. citizens as of late last year, screens prisoners set to be released with ICE databases. If there are ICE holds, including warrants, the department contacts the federal agency to confirm the status.

“If that hold remains, the offender is transferred to ICE custody upon release,” the department said. “ICE handles any potential deportation protocol.”

National Guard involvement?

Trump has said he plans to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows military personnel to enforce law, and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the removal of undocumented male migrants as young as 14-years old who were born in a country at war with the U.S.

Lombardo, who is commander-in-chief of the Nevada National Guard, said in December that he needed more details when asked if he would use the guard to carry out Trump’s immigration policies, but days later later signed onto a letter with other Republican governors pledging to use the guard “to support President Trump in this vital mission.”

As of early January, the guard has received no directive to carry out a mass deportation plan, according to Capt. Emerson Marcus, public affairs officer for the Nevada National Guard.

The state guard, made up of 4,500 uniformed soldiers, has a dual state-federal mission where it supports the federal government for overseas contingencies and it protects the homelands, Marcus said. It supports local law enforcement on a regular basis, such as helping with Formula 1 and the Super Bowl, and it is deployed for federal purposes. Some units are deployed to the Middle East, and a unit recently got back from Antarctica where it provided supplies, Marcus said.

The use of the National Guard to deport residents of Nevada would be alarming and could give a “strong feeling of an authoritarian police state,” said Michael Kagan, director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic and administrative law professor.

“In Nevada that literally could mean (that) National Guard members could be asked to participate in the deportation of their own family members, because we are such an integrated community,” he said.

‘Range of outcomes’

Though details of Trump’s immigration plans are murky, activist groups are prepared to respond.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it’s developing responses to policies that could undermine civil rights. Last month, the ACLU of Nevada published documents from ICE in which the agency is considering proposals to expand its detention capacity in the state.

“Expanding ICE presence in Nevada will tear families apart, erode trust in law enforcement and make Nevada less safe,” ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said at the time.

Haseebullah told the Review-Journal this week that there are concerns about family separations, indiscriminate police traffic stops and immigration raids.

“We don’t intend to make the next several years easy for ICE,” he said.

ACLU is rolling out “know your rights” materials and educational lessons. It will implement a community reporting system and place volunteers to monitor potential ICE activity, Haseebullah said.

He doubts local police have resources to further collaborate with immigration enforcement.

Metro, for example, has done a good job fostering relationships with immigrant communities that could break if officers lose trust, and can open police to litigation, Haseebullah said.

People in the local undocumented immigrant community have generally been longtime Las Vegas residents, Kagan said.

“I think if you’re looking at hard predictions, that’s difficult. I think we can identify a range of outcomes,” he said. “And it’s also not something that’s going to transpire on Jan. 20 or 21st; it’s something that will develop over four years.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.