Last week, following California Gov. Jerry Brown agreeing to send 400 National Guard members to the U.S./Mexico border in a limited role, Donald Trump tweeted that “Brown is doing the right thing.” But by this week, it wasn’t just clearer that those limitations were much more restricted than previously thought, but that the Trump administration and California are still butting heads over the agreement:
The state of California has rejected the terms of the Trump administration’s initial request to deploy National Guard troops along the border with Mexico, U.S. military officials and the head of the Border Patrol said Monday, the latest sign of persistent tension with the White House over immigration enforcement.
But, “a California National Guard commander, Lt. Col. Tom Keegan, disputed that characterization, and said in a statement Monday that ‘state officials have not rejected anything’”:
Keegan said Homeland Security officials and the Department of Defense have not replied to California’s offer for a memorandum outlining the mission’s scope. “The federal government has not yet responded,” Keegan said in a statement sent to reporters.
Some of that contention probably has to do with what California is saying National Guard troops can—and can’t do—along the border. National Guard will not be able to engage in immigration enforcement, but California is requesting additional limitations that Trump and his officials probably aren’t too happy about—and that throws a wrench in Trump’s border publicity stunt.
“Just how limited became clearer Monday,” the Washington Post reported, “after California’s National Guard told Homeland Security officials the state will not allow soldiers to do the types of things they’re doing elsewhere on the border: monitoring surveillance cameras, performing maintenance and transporting U.S. border agents.”
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials told the Washington Post that “it was possible the state would lend troops for other support roles, including maritime and aerial surveillance, which include counternarcotics work. But he said U.S. agents would not get the military’s help at the border—at least for now.”
But when Border Patrol agents are busy detaining a Texas immigrant who was attempting to transport her sick child to the hospital, it’s not clear they’re all the overwhelmed in the first place. Federal immigration enforcement is the job of federal immigration agents, not the National Guard.
Additionally, dozens of civil and immigrant rights groups have warned that Trump’s efforts to gin up a fake crisis at the border have also riled up extremist hate groups and border vigilantes, with many calling for border protests that could have deadly consequences.
Not that Trump is remotely concerned about any of that anyway. Just days after praising Brown, he lashed out against him, claiming that “looks like Jerry Brown and California are not looking for safety and security along their very porous Border.”