Trump praises Gov. Brown for sending troops to border; Brown says not for immigration enforcement

President Donald Trump heralded California Governor Jerry Brown’s decision to send troops to the U.S. – Mexico border, but Brown says those troops will not enforce immigration laws.

“California Governor Jerry Brown is doing the right thing and sending the National Guard to the Border,” the president tweeted Thursday morning. “Thank you Jerry, good move for the safety of our Country!”

California Governor Jerry Brown is doing the right thing and sending the National Guard to the Border. Thank you Jerry, good move for the safety of our Country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018

Brown said on Wednesday that he would limit the scope of their duties while on the border.

“This will not be a mission to build a new wall,” Brown said in a letter to Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. “It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.”

The National Guard is prohibit from enforcing any laws while on American soil so the governor’s clarification appears purely political. No national guard troops in any states will be rounding anyone up – they will only provide surveillance and intelligence, and other non-enforcement activities, to free up border patrol agents so that they can round illegal aliens up.

Brown also said that he appreciated the Federal dollars that would pay for the deployment and emphasized what he would allow them to do while deployed.

“Your funding for new staffing will allow the Guard to do what it does best: support operations targeting transnational criminal gangs, human traffickers and illegal firearm and drug smugglers along the border, the coast and throughout the state,” Brown wrote.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis has ordered up to 4,000 National Guard troops to the border to assist law enforcement in the region.