Leaders in most border states OK Trump’s request to put troops there

April 5 (UPI) — Governors from three of the four states along the Mexican border have said they’ll support President Donald Trump’s request to put National Guard troops there.

If Trump’s administration needs troops from elsewhere, though, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said he shouldn’t count on help from Oregon. She wrote on Twitter that she does not plan to comply with the president’s request to have the National Guard patrol the southern border.

“If President Donald Trump asks me to deploy Oregon Guard troops to the Mexico border, I’ll say no,” Brown tweeted. “As Commander of Oregon’s Guard, I’m deeply troubled by Trump’s plan to militarize our border.”

Officials in most border states have offered to support the request to deploy troops to address what the president calls a “surge of illegal activity.”

“Arizona welcomes the deployment of National Guard to the border,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted. “Washington has ignored this issue for too long and help is needed. For Arizona, it’s all about public safety.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also welcomed the president’s plan, saying the White House decision “reinforces Texas’ longstanding commitment to secure our southern border and uphold the Rule of Law.”

Susana Martinez, the Republican governor of New Mexico who never formally endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign, told the Santa Fe New Mexican through spokesman Michael Lonergan that she backs the initiative.

Lonergan said Martinez “appreciates the administration’s efforts to bring states to the table as they go about taking steps to better secure our border” and supports her state’s National Guard troops “fully in any mission — state or federal at home or abroad.”

The lone border-state holdout who hasn’t embraced the idea is California Gov. Jerry Brown — a Democrat who Trump criticized last week on Twitter, saying he’s weak on undocumented immigration. Brown hasn’t publicly criticized or endorsed the president’s plan.

California National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Keegan sent a statement to McClatchy’s Washington, D.C., bureau on behalf of Brown’s administration, saying the governor anticipates “more detail, including funding, duration and end state” from the White House.

“This request – as with others we’ve received from the Department of Homeland Security, including those for additional staffing in 2006 and 2010 – will be promptly reviewed to determine how best we can assist our federal partners,” Keegan said.

Officials haven’t said how many troops they would send. Former President Barack Obama sent 1,200 troops in 2010 and former President George W. Bush sent 6,200 to the border in 2006 as part of Operation Jump Start.