A Border Patrol vehicle follows behind an Army Stryker armored vehicle belonging to 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, under Joint Task Force-Southern Border, near the southern border along Nogales, Ariz., July 8, 2025. Joint Task Force-Southern Border executes full-scale, agile, and all-domain operations in support of Customs and Border Protection. (Army photo by Sgt. Jerron Bruce) "The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. Image: DoD
By: FEDweek StaffDoD has announced a way for certain defense civilian personnel to voluntarily be detailed in support immigration and border enforcement. Details would last up to 180 days, and would require travel to border states – in some cases remote areas.
Participants would not be participating in law enforcement operations and instead would apply their area of expertise to free up trained law enforcement.
The department is looking in particular for skills in data input and analysis, intelligence analysis, corrections, linguistics, human resources, and transportation security.
Those interested would have to be in good standing, have served at least 90 days beyond their probationary period, and gain approval from one’s supervisor. Employees must also possess an HSPD-12 compliant identification badge and ideally have a government-issued travel card, according to the department.
Worksites would be assigned, and most work is to be conducted at facilities along the U.S. border, although employees may be detailed to ICE and CBP facilities further away from the border.
Pay would be at the employee’s normal salary and official locality, including overtime, and employees would be reimbursed for travel expenses. DoD said experience gained through the detail would be recognized during the employee’s next performance evaluation.
The detail can be applied for through USAJOBS. As of right now, the program runs through September 30, 2026.
DoD in June had approved the detail of civilian employees to DHS for border security and “interior immigration enforcement” purposes, although not specifying how many employees that might involve or exactly what they might be doing.
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