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8 states refuse to deploy National Guard troops to border in protest of Trump immigration policies

"Children should be with their families, not trapped in cages, sobbing and calling out for their parents."

Members of the Arizona National Guard at the Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix. Arizona deployed its first 225 National Guard members to the Mexican border in April. CREDIT: CAITLIN O'HARA/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Arizona National Guard at the Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix. Arizona deployed its first 225 National Guard members to the Mexican border in April. CREDIT: CAITLIN O'HARA/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. governors, both Republican and Democrat, are refusing to deploy their state’s National Guard troops to the southern border in response to the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families.

In April, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to deploy the National Guard to the border, saying he wanted 2,000 to 4,000 troops in a bid to cut down on illegal immigration. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the order requires her department and the Pentagon to work in tandem with governors.

Some governors refused once the initial request was made two months ago, including Gov. Kate Brown (D) of Oregon and Gov. Phil Scott (R) of Vermont. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) sent 400 California National Guard troops to the border with Mexico, but only under strict conditions that they would not be involved in immigration enforcement, the construction of a wall or “guard people taken into custody for alleged immigration violations.”

While no governors from border states have announced their intention to halt the deployment of National Guard troops, at the time of publication, eight states have: Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, Rhode Island, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, and Connecticut.

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All cited the administration’s draconian family separation policy as their reason for withholding or recalling National Guard from the southern border.

Massachusetts

Gov. Charlie Baker (R) declared Monday that he is cancelling the deployment of Massachusetts National Guard troops to the border.

“Governor Baker directed the National Guard not to send any assets or personnel to the Southwest border today because the federal government’s current actions are resulting in the inhumane treatment of children,” a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement.

Baker has been on the record as having “a huge problem” with the family separation policy.

Maryland

Gov. Larry Hogan, another Republican governor, posted a series of tweets on Twitter announcing he ordered four National Guard crew members and helicopters to return to Maryland from the border.

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“Immigration enforcement efforts should focus on criminals, not separating innocent children from their families,” Hogan wrote.

Virginia

Gov. Ralph Northam (D) similarly ordered Virginia National Guard helicopter and crew assisting with immigration enforcement at the southern border to return home until the family separation policy is no more.

“When Virginia deployed these resources to the border, we expected that they would play a role in preventing criminals, drug runners and other threats to our security from crossing into the United States — not supporting a policy of arresting families and separating children from their parents,” Northam said in a statement.

“Let me be clear — we are ready to return and contribute to the real work of keeping our nation safe. But as long as the Trump administration continues to enforce this inhumane policy, Virginia will not devote any resource to border enforcement actions that could actively or tacitly support it.”

Before the separation policy captured headlines, Northam had previously approved the use of Virginia National Guard resources along the border.

Rhode Island

Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) has not yet been asked to deploy her state’s National Guard units to the southern border, but announced on Tuesday that she would refuse to if asked.

“Children should be with their families, not trapped in cages, sobbing and calling out for their parents,” the statement reads. “The administration’s immigration policy goes against everything we value as Rhode Islanders, as Americans and as decent people.”

Colorado

Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signed an executive order barring Colorado state resources from being put towards the family separation policy.

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“To see the images and hear from religious leaders, psychological professionals and academics — political individuals from all backgrounds — unanimously to condemn this kind of activity is rare,” Hickenlooper said at a news conference. “That you see that broad a consensus with that same passion and sense of urgency (is rare).”

Hickenlooper said at the moment, he does not believe the state is currently providing any aid to help the Trump administration’s agenda of prosecuting and separating families.

“I think it’s fair to say it’s a rebuke [of the policy]” Hickenlooper added. “But it’s also just saying: ‘It’s not going to happen in our backyard.’ We are very clear that this is not something that is acceptable. It’s hard for me to imagine that this is happening in the United States of America at the scale it is — at any scale.”

New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called the administration’s treatment of families at the border “a moral outrage and an affront to the values that built this state and this nation,” and ordered that no New York National Guard resources be used to aid in family separation.

“In the face of this ongoing human tragedy, let me be very clear: New York will not be party to this inhumane treatment of immigrant families,” Cuomo said in a statement Monday. “We will not deploy National Guard to the border, and we will not be complicit in a political agenda that governs by fear and division.”

North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper (D) called the family separation policy “cruel” and ordered the recall of three members of the state’s National Guard from the border.

Connecticut

Gov. Dan Malloy (D) said Monday he wouldn’t deploy National Guard troops if his state were asked to participate in anything “connected to this inhumane practice.”

“There is no law that mandates this practice. They are not being forced or coerced into stealing migrant children away from their parents. They are proactively electing to implement this policy and to take such actions… It is cruel. It is cowardly,” Malloy’s statement read. “It’s un-American. As I have stated in the past, I will not condone the use of our military reservists to participate in any effort at the border that is connected to this inhumane practice. This vile practice must end.”