On Monday, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona pledged to send around 1,600 members of the National Guard to the border between the United States and Mexico in response to the plan outlined by President Donald Trump to combat drug trafficking and illegal immigration with help from the military.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared that he would send around 300 troops per week on top of the 250 National Guard members whose deployment was announced the previous Friday, until the troops number at least 1,000 in total. Officials in Arizona announced they would send 225 members of the National Guard to the border on Monday, with a further 113 to be deployed on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez said that more than 80 troops from her state would be deployed later in the week. These troops will be the first wave of an anticipated 250 members of the Guard from New Mexico to serve on the southern border.
Republican governors are in charge of all three of the states; no public commitment to sending National Guard troops has been made by Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown yet. Federal law means that governors stay in command and control of Guard members from their particular state.
President Trump announced plans to send between 2,000 and 4,000 members of the National Guard to the southwestern border last week. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey told reporters that troops are needed to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border, a problem that has been ignored by the US government for almost a decade.