California to pull state troops from Mexico border in apparent riposte to Donald Trump, US media reports
- Follows similar move by New Mexico, which ordered most National Guard troops home after governor called president’s immigration crisis claim a ‘charade’
California Governor Gavin Newsom is poised to withdraw all 360 state troops from the US-Mexico border, in an apparent rebuttal of President Donald Trump’s stance that there is a national security crisis there, media said on Monday.
In his upcoming State of the State address on Tuesday, the Democratic governor will say he is giving the National Guard a new mission so they do not participate in “political theatre,” the Los Angeles Times newspaper and other media reported.
In a similar move, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham last week ordered most National Guard troops deployed at the state’s border with Mexico to withdraw, also rejecting the Republican president’s contention of a crisis.
Grisham, a Democrat, called Trump’s frequent declarations of an immigration crisis at the border a “charade”. The troops were deployed by her Republican predecessor, Susana Martinez, last year at Trump’s request.
In the reported excerpts from his speech, California’s Newsom says he will redeploy the troops to support efforts to counter bush fires and drug smuggling.