New Mexico Governor Explains Decision To Pull Troops From Border, Says There Was No ‘Real Emergency’
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham went on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday to discuss her decision to withdraw National Guard troops from the southern border, The Hill reports.
Grisham ordered the withdrawal on February 5, despite President Trump’s orders to keep the National Guard on the U.S.-Mexico border in order to provide security. Grisham pulled the majority of New Mexico National Guard troops stationed there — only some stayed to provide humanitarian assistance to asylum-seekers and migrants.
New Mexico subsequently filed a lawsuit against President Trump, and asked the states of Wisconsin, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Kansas to withdraw their troops as well.
Grisham explained her February 5 decision today on Face the Nation. The New Mexico governor said that she visited the border, observing that there is no “real emergency” to deal with.
“As everyone ought to be doing, I was on the border, and I’m looking and assessing whether or not there’s a real emergency or a crisis, and there isn’t. And the reality is these troops need to be available when there is a serious issue or an emergency to deal with.”
Governor Grisham’s comments come as President Donald Trump seeks funding for a wall on the U.S-Mexico border.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Trump declared a national emergency on February 16, in an effort to allocate funding for a wall on the southern border. The order came following intense, but unproductive bipartisan negotiations, and after the longest government shutdown in United States history.
The decision to declare a national emergency when, according to Trump’s opponents, there is not a national emergency, has come across largely partisan criticism. On February 23, House Democrats introduced a resolution seeking to block Trump’s decision.
Two hundred and twenty six House lawmakers — 225 Democrats and one Republican, Justin Amash — joined Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas in sponsoring the measure. Although expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House, the resolution will likely not pass the GOP-controlled Senate.
House Democrats introduce resolution to block Trump's national emergency, Trump vows to veto https://t.co/Xy5TOqHNin
— CNN (@CNN) February 22, 2019
Even if it passes both chambers of Congress, however, the resolution will be vetoed by the president.
“Will I veto it? One hundred percent. One hundred percent,” Trump told reporters, adding that the measure will likely not pass the Senate anyway.
But there is no crisis, and there is no national emergency, according to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who concluded her Face the Nation interview by explaining that some National Guard troops, as well as health responders and law enforcement, remain at the border.
“I did place some National Guard, law enforcement and most importantly, health responders to an area where they’re forcing them to come across a really desolate area in the southern part of the state,” Grisham said.
