Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will help screen visitors at three Marine Corps installations to prevent foreign nationals from gaining unauthorized access to the bases, Corps officials said.
The ICE agents have already been posted to Camp Pendleton, California, and they will also be sent to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia, as part of a pilot program, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Kevin Uebelhardt told Task & Purpose on Wednesday.
“All such support from ICE, whether at Camp Pendleton or at other pilot locations, will be conducted in accordance with underlying legal authorities,” Uebelhardt said. “ICE agents will not be conducting patrols or immigration enforcement actions on the installations.”
Uebelhardt referred questions to ICE about whether immigration agents have arrested anyone at Camp Pendleton since the pilot program began. An ICE spokesperson could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The move comes after a widely publicized May 2024 incident in which two Jordanian men were arrested for attempting to enter Marine Corps Base Quantico. A federal judge later dismissed the cases against both men.
But the pilot program is part of a longstanding partnership between military installation law enforcement officials and ICE that dates back to when the Department of Homeland Security was established in 2002, Uebelhardt said.
“The collaboration with ICE is not in response to a specific incident, but rather is part of an ongoing effort to constantly improve our security posture to protect our most valued resource: our people,” Uebelhardt said.
Military.com first reported on Tuesday that ICE agents would be posted to the gates of the three Marine Corps installations as part of the pilot program.
Camp Pendleton issued a May 17 news release announcing that ICE agents were supporting the base’s provost marshal’s office efforts to screen visitors and verify their identification as part of an interagency security effort that also involves U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS.
NCIS and CBP’s will include intelligence sharing and operational planning as part of
the operation, which is in a “proof-of-concept phase,” according to the news release.
“While most unauthorized access attempts are inadvertent, often caused by civilian motorists unintentionally navigating to base gates due to GPS misdirection, others may present deliberate security risks, the news release says.
The ICE agents have been at Camp Pendleton since May 15, and they are “postured to respond to requests where needed in accordance with legal authorities,” said Capt. James C. Sartain, a spokesman for Marine Corps Installations West.
“Installation security responsibility remains with military law enforcement personnel,” Sartain said. “Any attempted unauthorized entry by foreign nationals will be referred to ICE officials for appropriate action.”
The pilot program is being conducted in close coordination with partner federal agencies, said Sartain, who added that both NCIS and base security personnel regularly consult with CBP to determine a person’s immigration status and, when necessary, help with removing unauthorized foreign nationals.
NCIS still maintains primary investigative jurisdiction for felony-level crimes that occur on base, agency spokesperson Meredith March told Task & Purpose.
“As such, we will continue to work with Marine Corps base security, ICE, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities as necessary to investigate any unauthorized base access attempts when criminality is suspected,” March said. “NCIS remains dedicated to ensuring the protection of Marine Corps installations, personnel, and assets from criminal, intelligence, and terrorist threats.
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