On March 30, 2026, NBC News reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be "stationed outside Marine Corps graduation events in South Carolina" to identify undocumented family members.
The story spread social media platforms such as X, Bluesky and Threads, as well as via other media outlets, such as Raw Story and The Guardian.
But on March 31, the Department of Homeland Security publicly rebutted NBC News' reporting in an X post.
"FAKE NEWS. ICE will not be making arrests at the basic training graduation in Paris Island, SC," DHS said, a misspelled reference to the Marine Corps recruit depot in Parris Island, South Carolina.
However, NBC News cited a legitimate notice from the official Marine Corps Recruit Depot South Carolina website about the presence of federal law enforcement at Marine Corps graduation events. The notice was later amended to remove a reference to "lawful immigration status inquiries."
Given the contradictory public information from two different government sources, we have not rated this claim.
In an April 1 news release emailed to Snopes, the Marine Corps' South Carolina recruit depot referenced "additional support from federal law enforcement partners" without specifying which agencies would be present at graduation events.
The news release also noted that foreign nationals who have not submitted a base access form "will not be granted entry and may be subject to additional screening by government partner agencies."
"Undocumented visitors are prohibited from access to the Depot," the release said.
The recruit depot did not directly respond to a March 31 email asking for more information about federal law enforcement presence at Marine Corps events.
DHS ignored a repeated request to explain why the two agencies shared conflicting messages, instead providing the same information shared in its X post.
"This is FALSE. ICE will not be making arrests at the basic training graduation in Parris Island, SC," said an emailed statement from a DHS spokesperson who did not provide a name.
The Marine Corps has two major depots that train enlisted recruits: the one in South Carolina and another in San Diego. As of this writing, the San Diego's recruit depot website does not display any notice about federal law enforcement. It was unclear whether federal law enforcement would be present at other Marine Corps events.
The next Marines graduation in South Carolina following the NBC News report will be on April 3, 2026; per the Marine Corps, recruit graduation ceremonies happen on a frequent basis.
Here's everything we know.
NBC News report
NBC News' reporting was based on a notice on the official Marine Corps Recruit Depot South Carolina website. The notice said (emphasis ours):
Due to MCRD's increased Force Protection Measures, Federal Law Enforcement personnel will be present at installation access points to conduct enhanced screening and lawful immigration status inquiries during Recruit Family and Graduation Days.
Based on archived webpages via the Wayback Machine, the recruit depot website displayed the above message up until at least
As of 2 p.m. EDT March 31, the website displayed an updated notice that no longer included the reference to "lawful immigration status inquiries:"
Due to increased force protection measures and to expedite enhanced base access procedures, federal law enforcement personnel will be present at installation access points during Recruit Family and Graduation Days.
The story also included a reported statement from a Marine Corps spokesperson who said this marked the "first time in recent memory that federal law enforcement agencies have supported base access operations at Parris Island in this capacity."
The same spokesperson told NBC News that guests should bring "proper identification." Per the Marines, visitors must bring REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses or identification cards. The Marine Corps previously accepted ID from visitors that was not REAL ID-compliant.
NBC News' primary reporter on the story, Courtney Kube, did not immediately return an inquiry as to whether the report relied on other sources, particularly to determine what kind of federal law enforcement would be conducting the "lawful immigration status inquires" referenced by the Marine Corps.