Washington, Apr 19 (EFE).- President Donald Trump said Thursday that the federal government will not pay for the “charade” of deploying California National Guard troops to do “nothing” connected with immigration along the border with Mexico.
Trump commented on Twitter after state Gov. Jerry Brown announced an agreement to deploy the Guard to the state’s southern border area but they will not take part in border security operations or detain illegal immigrants.
“Governor Jerry Brown announced he will deploy ‘up to 400 National Guard Troops’ to do nothing. The crime rate in California is high enough, and the Federal Government will not be paying for Governor Brown’s charade. We need border security and action, not words!” tweeted the magnate.
On Wednesday, Brown – a Democrat – announced that he would deploy 400 California National Guard troops but that they would not be used to help build the president’s border wall or carry out immigration enforcement duties.
Not all of the troops would actually be sent to the border under Brown’s plan and the governor said that they would be used to help stop weapons and drug smuggling, as well as to interdict the criminal activities of gangs and people traffickers.
In Brown’s written announcement of the measure, he specifies that the agreement is the result of two weeks of negotiations with the Trump administration, something that seems to contradict the president’s previous claim that the National Guard would be used to help build the wall.
The president has asked the four border states – California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas – to send up to 4,000 National Guard troops to help with border duties until Congress can pass legislation to increase frontier security.
California – which has declared itself to be a “sanctuary state” – since Trump came into office has been the most combative state government in opposing the mogul’s measures on the environment, immigration and other issues.
It has refused to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in tracking down immigrants who find themselves in an “irregular” situation.
US law prohibits the use of troops for security and public order tasks on the national level, and so the National Guard will have a limited role along the border and will not be allowed to detain immigrants that cross into the country illegally.