Cuomo will not deploy National Guard to border over Trump family separation policy

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Monday that he will not deploy National Guard troops from his state to the U.S.-Mexico border, citing the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy as justification for the move.

“In the face of this ongoing human tragedy, let me be very clear: New York will not be party to this inhumane treatment of immigrant families,” Cuomo said in a statement. “We will not deploy National Guard to the border, and we will not be complicit in a political agenda that governs by fear and division.”

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Cuomo called the practice that separates families at the border “an affront to the values that built this state and this nation.”

In the face of the federal government’s inhumane treatment of immigrant families, New York will not deploy National Guard to the border. We will not be complicit in this ongoing human tragedy. pic.twitter.com/a2tTzjNisR

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 18, 2018

Cuomo announced the decision just hours after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) canceled the deployment of his state’s National Guard troops to the border in protest of the policy. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) made a similar move on Monday, signing an executive order that bars state agencies from using state resources in carrying out Trump’s policy. 

Members of both parties have condemned the practice of separating children from their parents at the border. The practice stems from a decision by the Justice Department in April to prosecute illegal border-crossers to the fullest extent of the law. The move has resulted in a dramatic uptick in those jailed as they await trial, with their children taken away and put into detention facilities.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called on Trump to reverse course on the policy. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said on Monday that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen should resign, in part, for her role in the policy. 

Nielsen and Trump have defended the policy, with President Trump saying he doesn’t want the U.S. to turn into a “migrant camp.”