EXCLUSIVE — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deputized State Department employees to carry out immigration enforcement duties, further expanding the pool of federal workers eligible to assist with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort.

The Washington Examiner learned late Tuesday that Noem signed a memorandum to deputize up to 2,000 State Department special agents at field offices nationwide to assist DHS agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers with arresting and deporting illegal immigrants inside the United States.