The Pentagon has asked the services to identify 40 JAG officers so up to 25 can be detailed as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Minneapolis to support federal prosecutions tied to an immigration enforcement operation. Around 1,000 additional CBP agents are expected to deploy after an ICE-involved fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Goods that sparked protests. Officials warn that repeated JAG detailing to the Justice Department is straining military legal resources.
Pentagon to Send Dozens of Military Lawyers to Minneapolis as Federal Immigration Enforcement Ramps Up
Federal agents including ICE and US Border Patrol stand with weapons along Portland Ave. near the scene where federal agents shot and killed a woman earlier in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7. - Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty Images
The Pentagon is preparing to deploy dozens of military lawyers to Minneapolis to assist with federal prosecutions tied to an immigration enforcement operation, according to two officials familiar with the matter and an internal Defense Department request reviewed by CNN.
An emailed request circulated inside the department says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has asked the military services to identify 40 Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers, from which 25 will be detailed to serve as Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs) in Minneapolis. The request calls for officers with experience in criminal prosecution, civil litigation, administrative law, immigration law or related fields.
About 1,000 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are also expected to deploy to Minneapolis soon, officials said. The deployments follow heightened tensions between federal and local law enforcement after the ICE-involved fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Goods last week, an incident that sparked protests nationwide.
One official and another person familiar with the JAG Corps told CNN that sending 25 JAG officers to a single city is an unusually large detail. Still, officials said the administration has increasingly assigned sizable JAG contingents to cities targeted for stepped-up federal enforcement of crime and immigration violations.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment about the Minneapolis detail.
Previous Detailing and Broader Plans
Last August, the department planned to detail 20 JAG officers to Washington, D.C., a move the D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro described as part of efforts to 'fight and reduce crime in the district.' Just last week, the Pentagon detailed 20 JAGs to Memphis to 'support' a White House directive to restore order, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee said.
In September, the Pentagon authorized a plan that would allow up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges nationwide, to be phased in groups of up to 150 as needed, CNN previously reported.
'We don’t have enough attorneys to fill regular jobs in the JAG Corps because so many are exiting,' one official warned. 'This continued demand for SAUSAs is bleeding legal resources from the military.'
Officials say the growing practice of detailing JAG officers to the Justice Department is straining Defense Department legal resources and pulling personnel away from routine military legal duties.
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