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Acting DHS Secretary Huffman invoked first-ever mass influx finding, deputizing law enforcement in all 50 states for immigration enforcement

On January 23, 2025, Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine C. Huffman signed a formal "Finding of Mass Influx of Aliens" — the first invocation of the 1996 statutory authority in its 29-year history — declaring an imminent emergency at the southern border affecting all 50 states. The finding authorized DHS to request immigration enforcement assistance from state and local law enforcement nationwide under 8 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(10), bypassing the training and agreement requirements of the standard 287(g) program. A companion directive simultaneously expanded enforcement authority to DOJ components — the U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, ATF, and Bureau of Prisons — that have no statutory immigration function.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On January 23, 2025, Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine C. Huffman signed a formal "Finding of Mass Influx of Aliens," invoking 8 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(10) — a 1996 statutory authority that had never been used in the 29 years since Congress enacted it. The finding declared that an "actual or imminent mass influx of aliens" at the southern border presented urgent circumstances requiring a federal response affecting all 50 states. Notably, the document itself acknowledged that border crossings represented "a major reduction from the peak over the last four years," yet still invoked emergency authority. The finding was effective for 60 days from signing.

The 1103(a)(10) authority was designed as a narrow emergency tool: prior administrations, including Trump's first term, declined to invoke it even during periods of higher actual border crossing numbers. Its geographic scope — all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii — was unprecedented; previous emergency immigration authorities had been limited to border-area applications. The finding effectively deputized state and local law enforcement for immigration enforcement nationwide without the training requirements and memoranda of agreement that the standard 287(g) program mandates as safeguards.

A companion directive issued the same day expanded immigration enforcement authority to DOJ components with no immigration training or statutory immigration function: the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This created a parallel immigration enforcement apparatus operating outside the INA's normal procedural framework and its accompanying due process protections for noncitizens.

Updates

March 25, 2025: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem extended the mass influx finding for an additional 180 days. September 22, 2025: Secretary Noem extended the finding a second time for another 180 days. April 24, 2026: The D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that Proclamation 10888 — the companion invasion proclamation — was unlawful insofar as it supplanted INA removal procedures with extra-statutory procedures blocking noncitizens from seeking asylum (RAICES v. Noem, No. 25-5243). The mass influx deputization authority itself was not the direct subject of that ruling. Sources: Immigration Policy Tracking Project; D.C. Circuit, RAICES v. Noem.

Why we recorded this

The INA's mass-influx authority (8 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(10)) was enacted in 1996 as a narrow emergency tool to request state and local assistance during genuine border surges. No prior administration had invoked it in the 29 years since its passage. By invoking it to deputize law enforcement in all 50 states and simultaneously expanding enforcement authority to DOJ components (U.S. Marshals, DEA, ATF, Bureau of Prisons) that have no immigration training or statutory immigration function, the administration created a parallel enforcement apparatus outside the INA's normal procedural framework. The archive records this as the first use of the authority and the broadest single expansion of immigration enforcement jurisdiction in the statute's history.

Sources

  1. Statement by DHS Spokesperson on Directive Expanding Immigration Law Enforcement — U.S. Department of Homeland Security primary accessed June 29, 2026
  2. The 'Mass Influx' Declaration — American Immigration Council investigative accessed June 29, 2026
  3. Acting DHS Secretary Issues Finding of 'Mass Influx of Aliens' — American Immigration Lawyers Association secondary accessed June 29, 2026
  4. DHS makes finding of 'mass influx of aliens' at southern border, requests state and local assistance nationwide — Immigration Policy Tracking Project secondary accessed June 29, 2026

See also