The Associated Press reports that it has a leaked draft document that, if approved, would mobilize up to 100,000 National Guard troops to 11 states, including Colorado.
The White House has denied that administration officials ever considered such an action. Press secretary Sean Spicer told the AP its reporting is "100 percent not true," adding that the draft memo is "not a White House document." The spread of the report will only increase fears among immigrant communities, where unsubstantiated rumors of checkpoints and raids already are running rampant in Denver.
The Department of Homeland Security has told the Associated Press that the draft document "was a very early pre-decisional draft that never made it to DHS Secretary John Kelly’s desk and was never seriously considered by the agency."
The memo would have deployed troops not just to the four U.S.-Mexico border states but also to the next seven inland states, including Colorado. National Guard troops have never assisted with immigration enforcement so far north, according to AP.
AP reported that the draft has been circulating for weeks and was under discussion in multiple offices as late as today. Spokespeople for multiple governors' offices, including Colorado's, told the Associated Press that they were unaware of the proposal.
"The governor hasn't received any notification from the Administration about this, so it is premature to discuss," a spokeswoman for Gov. John Hickenlooper wrote in an email to Denverite.
