Pentagon Diverted $2 Billion of Military Spending to Immigration Enforcement, Democrats Say

A Bay Area lawmaker is among a group of Democrats who say the Pentagon has diverted more than $2 billion in military funds toward the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, whose district includes Travis Air Force Base, on Thursday said deploying soldiers and funding to the Southern border undermines national security and threatens military readiness.

“The [Army’s] 101st Division, which is one of the three divisions that we keep always ready to go in a moment’s notice, has been diverted to border activities,” said Garamendi, who serves as the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. “So the management, the infrastructure, the logistics — all of that is totally disrupted. And they are not prepared to depart at a moment’s notice to some urgency around the world.”

The review of Pentagon border funding, co-authored by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff and nine other members of Congress, found that the Department of Defense has committed $1.3 billion for border enforcement, including troops and wall construction. And the agency’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 indicated plans to spend an additional $5 billion on southern border operations alone.

The report also highlighted the Pentagon’s commitment to spend:

• $250 million to deploy troops in U.S. cities, aiding immigration operations
• $420 million for detention operations on military bases, including Guantanamo
• $55 million to reassign military lawyers as immigration judges
• $40 million for air transport of detainees, including deportation flights

“What is clear is that the public can expect DoD to spend billions more on immigration enforcement in the near future,” the report stated.

The Democrats called the diversion of funds a waste of taxpayer resources and “baffling,” in light of the Republican-controlled Congress’s unprecedented $170 billion allocation to the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year.

This year, Garamendi has strenuously resisted the Pentagon’s use of military aircraft for deportation flights, the use of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for immigration detention, and a proposal — first reported by KQED — to build an immigration detention center at Travis. After he and North Bay Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson raised questions, Garamendi said military officials told them the plan had been put on hold.

The lawmaker also said he believes redirecting troops to immigration efforts at the border and in cities such as Los Angeles is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that limits the use of military personnel to police domestic laws.

“One of the things we’ve learned about the Trump administration is they don’t much care what the law is. They simply will do what they want to do, regardless of the law. It’s kind of like, ‘catch me if you can,’” he said. “We’re gonna call it out. We’re gonna say it’s illegal. It’s the use of the military for domestic law enforcement purposes.”

The Defense Department has not addressed the question of legality. But in a statement, Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson affirmed that the Pentagon is committing resources to immigration efforts. With a nearly $1 trillion defense budget, there’s plenty of money to go around, she said.

“Operations with the Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t be necessary if Joe Biden didn’t turn the Southern Border into a national security threat, but this administration is proud to fix the problem Democrats started,” she said. “Spending allocated money on one mission does not mean other missions become depleted. That’s ludicrous and just plain stupid.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

In a Dec. 9 letter, the Democrats shared the report with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and asked a series of pointed questions about how the military funds are being used. They also cited news reports that the deployments in support of Homeland Security operations are hurting troop morale and raising concerns about retention and recruitment.

“Similar deployments during the first Trump administration led to higher instances of alcohol and drug abuse amongst servicemembers assigned to these missions, and potentially contributed to several tragic suicides,” the letter said. “We urge you to uphold the commitment you made to the Senate during your confirmation process and stop using the military for these political stunts.”

Padilla noted that the report comes on the heels of a federal judge’s ruling on Wednesday ordering the Trump administration to end the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles and return the federalized troops to California’s control.

On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the deployment of the National Guard across the U.S.