Newsom blasts 'political theater,' pulls hundreds from border duty

[struggle4progress]

5. Newsom pulls National Guard from border

By JAZMINE ULLOA and TARYN LUNA
FEB 11, 2019 | 4:25 PM
SACRAMENTO

As a second partial government shutdown looms in Washington over border discussions, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed an order to withdraw and redeploy roughly 360 National Guard members from California’s southern boundary with Mexico, repudiating President Trump’s characterization of a recent influx of Central American refugees and migrants as a national security crisis ...

A separate letter signed by the governor Monday requests funding from the federal government to add at least 150 troops to the California National Guard's Counterdrug Task Force, which helps local law enforcement agencies identify and seize illegal marijuana farms that the governor said harm the environment and create fire hazards.

The announcement comes just one day before the governor delivers his first State of the State address Tuesday, setting the stage for Newsom to counter Trump’s State of the Union address from last week. Released excerpts of his speech echoed his remarks Monday to reporters ...

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-california-national-guard-withdraw-immigration-20190211-story.html