Oregon Governor Says She Will Refuse to Send Troops To Border

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) has posted a tweet saying that she will not respect any order from President Donald Trump to use state National Guard troops to “protect” border of the United States with Mexico.

“If Donald Trump asks me to deploy Oregon Guard troops to the Mexico border, I’ll say no,” Brown tweeted.  “As Commander of Oregon’s Guard, I’m deeply troubled by Trump’s plan to militarize our border.”

She added another tweet which read: “There’s been no outreach by the President or federal officials, and I have no intention of allowing Oregon’s guard troops to be used to distract from his troubles in Washington.”

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

On Wednesday Trump issued a presidential proclamation which orders National Guard troops to be sent to the Mexican border to combat what he labelled as a “surge of illegal activity.”

The president also wrote a memorandum to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.  In it, he said wanted to , use the National Guard “to stop the flow of deadly drugs and other contraband, gang members and other criminals, and illegal aliens into this country.”

Trump first stated on Tuesday that he planned to deploy troops to the southern border to secure the area.  It seems like a ploy he is using to try to get his beloved wall built, which Congress does not want to fund.

The president also seems very unhappy about current immigration laws, based on his tweets over the past week. Of course, if Fox News is unhappy, then he’s unhappy, and many people at that network have been criticizing him over immigration.  In this latest tweets he wrote about “caravans” of migrants approaching the border, and he also asked Congress to pass tougher laws.

Kate Brown is the kind of governor this country needs who has enough courage to stand up to President Trump and his policies which make no sense and are harmful to the country.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.