The United States administration is mulling over a proposal to mobilise a 1 lakh National Guard troops to round up people who are living in the country illegally, AP reported, quoting a memo it had obtained. The 11-page document, written by US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, was addressed to the heads of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection, AP added.

The White House has, however, called the report false. WH Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the Trump administration had not made any effort to use military to act against illegal immigrants.

Four states bordering Mexico – California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico – have been mentioned in the 11-page document, the news agency said. Besides, seven other states that are far away from the US-Mexico border have also been included – Oregon, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Colorado, Arkansas, Louisiana.

The governors of these 11 states will have a choice on whether their guard troops will participate or not, the memo is believed to have said. National Guard personnel have never been used to assist immigration-related missions far away from the US-Mexico border, AP added.

The memo stated that the participating troops would have the authority to “perform the functions of an immigration officer”, to the investigation and detention of “aliens in the United States”. It further said that personnel will be allowed to conduct searches and arrest any unauthorised immigrants.

The four-month curb, according to Trump’s executive order, was specific to seven Muslim-majority countries – Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. However, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals on February 9 had refused to reinstate the immigration ban observing that the Trump administration had failed to provide evidence to justify the move on national security grounds. On Thursday, Trump announced that he will issue “a new and very comprehensive order to protect” the country.