Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
California Governor to Draw Down Troops at Border
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
February 11, 2019

Share

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans Monday to withdraw several hundred National Guard troops from the state’s southern border with Mexico in defiance of the Trump administration’s request for support from border states.
About 100 of the 360 troops will remain deployed under California’s agreement with the federal government to focus specifically on combating transnational crime such as drug and gun smuggling, Newsom spokesman Nathan Click said. Specifically, they will be tasked with providing intelligence on transnational crime and assist with cargo dock operations and searches of commercial trucks for contraband.

“The border ’emergency’ is a manufactured crisis, and California will not be part of this political theater.” — Gov. Gavin Newsom
Newsom’s move comes on the heels of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, also a Democrat, pulling back her state’s troops from the U.S.-Mexico border. The two state’s former governors agreed to send troops to the border last April at the Trump administration’s request along with Texas and Arizona.
Newsom’s and Grisham’s actions are a fresh, if symbolic, affront to President Donald Trump’s description of an immigration crisis on the nation’s southern border.
“The border ’emergency’ is a manufactured crisis, and California will not be part of this political theater,” Newsom plans to say in his Tuesday State of the State address, according to excerpts released by his office.
Newsom will reassign roughly 110 troops to beef up California’s fire preparation efforts ahead of the next wildfire season and expand the guard’s counterdrug task force program. The expansion of the counterdrug task force requires approval from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Newsom Spars With Trump on Immigration, Other Issues

The original mission, approved by former California Gov. Jerry Brown, was set to end March 31. The order Newsom plans to send Monday will require the guard to immediately begin withdrawing troops but still give it until the end of March to do so. When Brown, a fellow Democrat, approved the mission in April, he said no California troops would participate in immigration-related activities. He similarly ordered the troops to focus on combating transnational crime.

“It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.” — Gov. Gavin Newsom
“This will not be a mission to build a new wall,” Brown wrote at the time in a letter to Trump administration officials. “It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.”
Newsom’s Monday order will argue that the increase in Central American migrants crossing over the border is the result of a desire to escape violence and repression fueled in part by the activities of transnational crime organizations. The California guard’s resources are best spent tackling those activities, he plans to argue.
Just a month into his governorship of the nation’s most populous state, Newsom has sparred with Trump on immigration and other issues. He has held up California as an antidote to what he deems a corrupt Washington, a message he’s likely to echo in Tuesday’s State of the State speech, his first as governor.
Texas and Arizona still have troops on the border.
The 360 troops are a fraction of the roughly 14,000 that have been deployed throughout California for various operations since 2016.

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Just Bet the Farm

DON'T MISS

Staged Crashes and Insurance Fraud: Is Your California Commute a Target?

DON'T MISS

Fight Over Phonics: Will CA Require the ‘Science of Reading’ in K-12 Schools?

DON'T MISS

Russia Says Trump’s Threats Against Iran Could Trigger ‘Global Catastrophe’

DON'T MISS

Get Off the Phone! Fresno Police Target Distracted Driving

DON'T MISS

Federal Reserve Chief Says Trump Tariffs Likely to Raise Inflation and Slow US Economic Growth

DON'T MISS

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

DON'T MISS

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

DON'T MISS

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s Latest Tariffs Could Affect Your Wallet

UP NEXT

Fight Over Phonics: Will CA Require the ‘Science of Reading’ in K-12 Schools?

UP NEXT

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

UP NEXT

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

UP NEXT

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

UP NEXT

Curry Scores 37 Points and Warriors Beat Lakers in a Potential First-Round Playoff Preview

UP NEXT

LA Fires Death Toll Rises to 30 After Remains Are Found

UP NEXT

Rural California, Reliant on the Trump Administration for Jobs, Braces for Cuts

UP NEXT

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

UP NEXT

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

UP NEXT

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

Russia Says Trump’s Threats Against Iran Could Trigger ‘Global Catastrophe’

1 hour ago

Get Off the Phone! Fresno Police Target Distracted Driving

1 hour ago

Federal Reserve Chief Says Trump Tariffs Likely to Raise Inflation and Slow US Economic Growth

1 hour ago

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

1 hour ago

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

1 hour ago

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

2 hours ago

How Trump’s Latest Tariffs Could Affect Your Wallet

2 hours ago

Curry Scores 37 Points and Warriors Beat Lakers in a Potential First-Round Playoff Preview

2 hours ago

LA Fires Death Toll Rises to 30 After Remains Are Found

2 hours ago

US Added 228,000 Jobs in March as Economy Showed Strength in Buildup to Trump Trade Wars

2 hours ago

Trump Just Bet the Farm

Donald Trump is not known for doing his homework — he’s more of a go-with-my-gut kind of guy. What I find most terrifying about what T...

24 minutes ago

24 minutes ago

Trump Just Bet the Farm

30 minutes ago

Staged Crashes and Insurance Fraud: Is Your California Commute a Target?

35 minutes ago

Fight Over Phonics: Will CA Require the ‘Science of Reading’ in K-12 Schools?

1 hour ago

Russia Says Trump’s Threats Against Iran Could Trigger ‘Global Catastrophe’

The Fresno Police Department will conduct an enforcement operation on April 7, 2025, to target drivers violating the hands-free cell phone law, aiming to reduce distracted driving. (Shutterstock)
1 hour ago

Get Off the Phone! Fresno Police Target Distracted Driving

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at the Federal Reserve in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
1 hour ago

Federal Reserve Chief Says Trump Tariffs Likely to Raise Inflation and Slow US Economic Growth

1 hour ago

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

1 hour ago

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend