Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina are among the latest states Tuesday to announce they are recalling their National Guard troops from the U.S.-Mexican border, citing the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents. And Rhode Island says it will not troops if asked.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will recall the four members of the National Guard he sent to the U.S.-Mexico border and will not deploy other resources until a federal policy of separating immigrant children from their families is rescinded.
Hogan announced Tuesday on Twitter that he has ordered four crewmembers and a helicopter to immediately return from where they were stationed in New Mexico.
“Until this policy of separating children from their families has been rescinded, Maryland will not deploy any National Guard resources to the border,” the Republican governor tweeted Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Maryland’s Hogan tweeted that Congress and President Trump’s administration have failed repeatedly to deliver needed immigration reform.
“Congress and the administration must step up and work together to fix our broken system,” the governor wrote. “Immigration enforcement efforts focus on criminals, not separating innocent children from their families.”
The Maryland National Guard has participated in southwest border operations several times since 2000 and regularly between 2012 and 2015, the governor’s office said.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam also said Tuesday that he’s recalling members of the state’s National Guard from the border, saying he would not devote resources that could support an “inhumane policy.”
The Democratic governor said he had ordered four crewmembers and a helicopter to return to Virginia from Arizona. The crew was assisting the Arizona National Guard in surveillance operations on the border as part of a 90-day mission.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says he’s bringing home the three North Carolina National Guard members currently working at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Cooper, a Democrat, said Tuesday he made the decision because “the cruel policy of tearing children away from their parents requires a strong response.”
Cooper’s office says the state’s current deployment included a helicopter. The North Carolina National Guard has sent service members to the southern border during previous presidential administrations.
Separately, Attorney General Josh Stein is one of 20 attorneys general who signed a letter Tuesday asking U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the current policy, calling it “inhumane” and raising serious concerns about children’s rights.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed an executive order barring state resources from being used to carry out a federal policy of separating children from their parents after illegal border crossings.
Murphy on Tuesday called the practice “inhumane and cruel” and said earlier there was no basis for the policy in “law or scripture.”
The Democrat said he wasn’t sure whether state resources are being used in support of the policy.
In Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday he’s reversing a decision to send the Massachusetts National Guard to the border, also citing the policy.
Trump has defended the border-protection policies in the face of rising national outrage. He has called for tough action against illegal immigration.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, said Tuesday she hadn’t been asked to send troops to the border, but if she is, she won’t deploy units. She says the policy “is ripping families apart.”
Raimondo says Trump should end the “inhumane policy.”
She signed a bill Monday allowing immigrants who were brought to the country as children to continue getting driver’s licenses in the state.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
