BORDER BRAWL: CALIFORNIA DEFIES TRUMP, WITHHOLDS NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS

California Governor Jerry Brown will not be sending National Guard troops to the southern border after all, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The governor declined to authorize deployment on the belief that troop efforts would help President Trump’s wider agenda aiming to secure the border, two anonymous US officials told the AP.
Last week, Brown indicated he would deploy 400 troops to fight crime after President Trump called on California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to help amass a buildup of 2,000 to 4,000 troops to aid border enforcement.

But Brown objected to troops helping conduct immigration operations, which the AP reports could include helping “fix and repair vehicles, operate remotely-controlled surveillance cameras to report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol, operate radios and provide ‘mission support,’ which can include clerical work, buying gas and handling payroll.”
“This will not be a mission to build a new wall. It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life,” the governor stated at the time. “And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.”
Despite Governor Brown objecting to the president’s primary goal, Trump heaped praise on him, saying he “is doing the right thing and sending the National Guard to the Border. Thank you Jerry, good move for the safety of our country.”

Arizona, Texas and New Mexico have expressed support for the president’s efforts to combat illegal immigration and drug and human trafficking, and have committed to sending 1,600 Guard troops to supplement the US Border Patrol.