Currently, California has 360 National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border. Newsom’s decision to pull them out comes after President Donald Trump deployed additional 3,750 military troops at the southern border. Another reason is the Trump administration’s under-investment in federal land management in the state.
Last year, then-Governor Jerry Brown sent National Guard troops to the southern border. He deployed them in response to the request of the federal government to provide support for border operations. However, Brown made sure that the troops will not participate in any immigration enforcement or construction of any new border. Their mission at the southern border was to fight transnational crimes.
New Mexico Governor pulled out National Guard troops from border deployment
California is the second state to call back its troops from the southern border. Last week, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered majority of the state’s National Guard troops to return home.
Lujan Grisham said, “New Mexico will not take part in the president’s charade of border fear-mongering by misusing our diligent National Guard troops. We will deploy our men and women in uniform only where there is a need, and where their presence can make a genuine difference in ensuring public safety and an easing of the humanitarian concerns at our southern border.”
