Trump administration officials and the state of California fell silent on Thursday after President Trump tweeted that he wouldn’t pay the state to deploy National Guard troops unless they were used directly to help enforce U.S. immigration laws.
Soon after California’s Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown said he would deploy troops, but not to enforce the border or build a border wall, Trump said those limitations would “do nothing,” and said he “will not be paying for Governor Brown’s charade.”
If he means it, that could prompt Brown to take back his move to deploy troops to indirectly assist border officers in and around the state. But officials seemed to be trying to digest Trump’s surprise message, and had no comment as of Thursday afternoon.
A spokesman for Brown’s office had no comment, but directed the Washington Examiner to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s tweet from late Wednesday in which she said “final details are being worked out but we are looking forward to the support [from California].”
DHS did not respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon would play a role in disbursing the funds to states that deploy their Guard troops to the border, but the Pentagon declined to answer directly whether the deal was really off with California.
“The Pentagon will continue to support the Department of Homeland Security as they identify their needs and requirements. We are in a support role,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White. “National Guard troops are under Title 32 and they are under the governors’ command and control. The Department of Defense will stand ready to support DHS.”
Trump’s tweet came after two weeks of back-and-forth negotiations between his administration and California on how the state could cooperate with the president without feeling at odds with its progressive views on illegal immigration and open borders.
Brown had announced late Wednesday he would deploy 400 troops to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, with limitations.
The troops would inspect packages at shipment facilities, but not be permitted to do things troops in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico would be responsible for, including the monitoring of border security cameras and sensors or repairing infrastructure and roads by the international boundary.
On Thursday morning, Acting Deputy Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ronald Vitiello indicated that his agency could live with California’s limitations.
“The restrictions on California are not that different than what we’re asking the Guard to do,” he said. “Look for aviation support, we’re looking to have them help watch sensor feeds and cameras for us, road maintenance, brush clearing, those are the kinds of things that will us do the mission better.”
Troops in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico — states with Republican governors who are fully cooperating with DHS and DOD — will help provide service, engineering, and mechanical support to agents on the frontline; air support; monitor cameras and detection sensors; and repair vehicles and frontline infrastructure.
The Pentagon intends to cover all costs associated with the project, but said it cannot pinpoint how much the mission will cost and where it will pull the funds from its own budget to cover the project, Defense spokesman Bob Salesses said Monday.
Approximately 4,000 National Guard troops will remain on mission at the U.S.-Mexico border through at least October but might stay longer if “operational control” of the border has not been achieved by then. Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 that mandated border security be a priority for DHS.
