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U.S. NEWS Thursday 5 april 2018

Trump signs order sending National Guard to U.S.-Mexico border

By JILL COLVIN complishment to point to were largely supportive of
Associated Press when he had few. the move. The office of Cal-
WASHINGTON (AP) — As- Federal law prohibits the ifornia Gov. Jerry Brown, a
serting the situation had use of active-duty service Democrat who has sparred
reached "a point of crisis," members for law enforce- with Trump on immigration
President Donald Trump on ment inside the U.S., unless issues, said any federal re-
Wednesday signed a proc- specifically authorized by quest would be promptly
lamation ordering the de- Congress. But over the past reviewed to determine
ployment of the National 12 years, presidents have how the state could best
Guard to the U.S.-Mexico twice sent National Guard offer its assistance.
border to fight illegal immi- troops to the border to bol- But in Mexico, senators
gration. ster security and assist with urged President Enrique
"The lawlessness that con- surveillance and other sup- Pena Nieto to temporar-
tinues at our southern bor- port. ily suspend cooperation
der is fundamentally in- Nielsen said the effort would with the U.S. on immigra- Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen speaks during
compatible with the safety, be similar to a 2006 op- tion and security issues. In the daily press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, April 4,
security, and sovereignty eration in which President a nonbinding statement 2018, in Washington.
of the American people," George W. Bush deployed approved unanimously Associated Press
Trump wrote in a memo au- troops to help U.S. Customs Wednesday, the senators
thorizing the move, adding and Border Protection per- asked Mexico's govern- serve." "We're going to be doing
that his administration had sonnel with non-law en- ment to freeze joint efforts Trump first revealed Tues- things militarily. Until we can
"no choice but to act. forcement duties while ad- "in the fight against transna- day that he'd been discuss- have a wall and proper se-
"The announcement came ditional border agents were tional organized crime" un- ing the idea of using the curity, we're going to be
hours after Trump pledged hired and trained. President til Trump starts acting "with military at the border with guarding our border with
"strong action today" on Barack Obama also sent the civility and respect that Defense Secretary Jim Mat- the military," Trump said.
immigration and a day af- about 1,200 troops in 2010 the people of Mexico de- tis. q
ter he said he announced to beef up efforts against
he wanted to use the mili- drug smuggling and illegal
tary to secure the southern immigration.
border until his long-prom- Nielsen said her depart-
ised, stalled border wall is ment had developed a list
erected. of locations where it would
Homeland Security Secre- like assistance on things
tary Kirstjen Nielsen said she like aerial surveillance and
had been in discussions with other support, and was dis-
the governors of the south- cussing with the governors
west border states and has how to facilitate the plans.
been working with them to She declined to say how
develop agreements that many personnel would be
will oversee where and needed or how much the
how many Guardsmen will operation would cost, but
be deployed she insisted, "It will be as
She suggested some troops many as is needed to fill the
could begin arriving as gaps that we have today."
soon as Wednesday night, One congressional aide
though other administra- said that lawmakers antici-
tion officials cautioned that pate 300 to 1,200 troops will
details on troop levels, lo- be deployed and that the
cations and timing were still cost was expected to be at
being worked out. least $60 million to $120 mil-
Trump has been frustrated lion a year.
by slow action on build- The Pentagon would prob-
ing his "big, beautiful wall" ably need authorization
along the Mexican border from Congress for any fund-
— the signature promise ing beyond a few months,
of his campaign — as well said the aide, who wasn't
as a recent uptick in ille- authorized to speak public-
gal border crossings, which ly and spoke on condition
had plunged during the of anonymity.
early months of his presi- Governors of the four U.S.
dency, giving Trump an ac- states bordering Mexico