Politico
By Ted Hesson
April 09, 2018
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday that he’s deploying 338 National Guard troops to assist with border security operations.
“Just updated Arizona border sheriffs on today’s deployment of National Guard,” Ducey tweeted. “225 guard members being deployed today, additional members tomorrow.”
Later in the day, Ducey tweeted that his state was sending an additional 113 members of the national guard.
Ducey, a Republican, is the second border-state governor to answer President Donald Trump’s call to mobilize National Guard troops to help stem the flow of illegal immigration.
Trump, who vented repeatedly last week on Twitter about border security, said Thursday that as many as 4,000 guard members could be tapped to assist Border Patrol agents. The National Guard will not arrest or detain migrants, but will engage in supporting tasks that could free up agents to patrol the southwest border.
The escalation of force comes during a period of relative calm along the U.S.-Mexico border. Border arrests in fiscal year 2017 reached their lowest point since 1971, a trend driven by a decline in illegal immigration from Mexico and heightened security. A September report by the Homeland Security Department called the border “more difficult to illegally cross today than ever before.”
But an uptick in border arrests in recent months prompted the Trump administration to conclude that a new wave of unlawful migration could be underway.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said Monday that the Texas National Guard would commit at least 1,000 troops to the Mexican border, a commitment that began with an initial deployment of 250 members on Friday.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, another border-state Republican, has said she’ll work with federal authorities on a possible Guard deployment. She said Monday more than 80 troops would deploy later this week.
California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, hasn’t yet committed his border state’s Guard troops.
Ducey spokesperson Patrick Ptak said the Arizona National Guard will be deployed to a site in Marana, Ariz., 45 minutes northwest of Tucson. From there, the troops will assist operations in the Border Patrol’s Tucson and Yuma sectors.
The Guard members could provide assistance with a range of tasks, including air support, reconnaissance, logistics and construction of border infrastructure, according to the governor’s office.
The presence of the guard will allow the Border Patrol “to put more boots on the ground,” Ptak said.
The initial deployment, which will be supported by federal funds, is set to last 31 days, according to Ptak. The commitment could later be extended.
The Arizona deployment represents an increase over an estimate put forward by Ducey mere days ago. The governor said Friday that his state would send roughly 150 troopers to the border.
Ducey was set to make a related announcement Monday at Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix.
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