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3h ago

ICE to Screen Visitors at Parris Island Marine Graduations

The move signals a rare overlap of base security with immigration checks during elevated threat levels.

The badge of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is embroidered on a polo shirt of an ICE employee, at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement two-day job fair in Texas to help fill vacancies for deportation officers and attorneys, in Arlington, Texas, U.S. August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Shelby Tauber/File Photo
A car drives under a sign that states the sole purpose of the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, Wednesday, May 11, 2022, in Parris Island, SC. The recruiting depot at Parris Island is one of only two in the United States, the other is the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot San Diego.
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An officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) waits in a hallway outside of a courtroom at New York-Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York City on June 11, 2025.

Overview

  • Marine Corps officials said this week’s family days and graduation at Parris Island will include ICE agents at the gates to verify visitors’ immigration status.
  • A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE will not make arrests at the graduation events.
  • Entry now requires a REAL ID–compliant license, a U.S. passport or passport card, or a U.S. birth certificate, which effectively flags visitors who lack government-issued proof of lawful presence.
  • MCRD Parris Island called the ICE role the first in recent memory for federal law enforcement supporting base-access checks there, and officials have not said if the practice will continue or spread to other bases.
  • Advocates criticized the plan as targeting military families, raising concerns it could deter relatives from attending a milestone after 13 weeks of training that recruits complete before they can see loved ones.