National Guard awaits guidance for Trump border security deployment

PHOENIX – National Guard contingents in U.S. states that border Mexico say they are waiting for guidance from Washington to determine what they will do following President Trump’s proclamation directing deployment to fight illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

The National Guard in Texas said in a statement Thursday said the deployment is in “very early planning stages.”

A National Guard unit patrols at the Arizona-Mexico border in Sasabe, Arizona, in 2007. National Guard contingents say they are waiting for guidance from Washington to determine what they will do following President Trump's proclamation directing deployment to fight illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Associated Press/Ross D. Franklin

With troops in all states, the National Guard has been called on by past presidents and governors to help secure U.S. borders.

The Texas Guard says it has “firsthand knowledge of the mission and operating area” that will allow it to move seamlessly into the new role.

Governors of the border states of Arizona and New Mexico have welcomed deployment of the Guard along the southwest border as a matter of public safety.

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