New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday that she has ordered the withdrawal of the majority of the National Guard troops in the state deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to KOAT, the governor plans to withdraw 118 troops, while some will remain in surrounding communities for humanitarian purposes.
“New Mexico will not take part in the president’s charade of border fear-mongering by misusing our diligent National Guard troops,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
Her Republican predecessor had deployed National Guard troops to the border in April at President Donald Trump’s suggestion, and the 118 remained there before Tuesday’s reversal.
Grisham’s announcement came just before Trump’s State of the Union address, in which he pushed for congressional approval of billions of dollars for a border wall.
“The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well-being of all Americans,” Trump said in the 82-minute speech Tuesday evening.
>> READ: The transcript of the 2019 State of the Union speech
New Mexico’s contingent of border troops is dwarfed by recent federal deployments of active duty troops.
The Pentagon announced Sunday it would send 3,750 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to put up barbed wire and provide support for Customs and Border Protection, increasing the total number to 4,350.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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