Martinez indicates she’ll support effort
Gov. Susana Martinez signaled she’ll collaborate with President Donald Trump as he seeks to enlist Southwestern governors in his enhanced crackdown on border crossings.
Trump on Wednesday issued a proclamation directing federal agencies to coordinate with governors in deploying National Guard units to the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The deployment is designed to support ongoing efforts to mitigate the crisis on our border,” according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security news release.
The governor “appreciates the administration’s efforts to bring states to the table as they go about taking steps to better secure our border,” Martinez spokesman Michael Lonergan said in a statement.
“The men and women of the New Mexico National Guard are well-trained professionals, and the governor supports them fully in any mission — state or federal at home or abroad,” Lonergan said.
Lonergan did not answer questions on whether Trump’s direction specified how many units of the state’s National Guard were to be deployed, and when or if that decision would be left to the governor’s discretion.
The length of the deployment “will be determined by congressional efforts to secure our southern border,” according to Homeland Security.
Although her comments suggested she was in sync with the White House directive, Martinez, a Republican, has not always had a friendly relationship with Trump.
During a 2016 campaign speech in Albuquerque, Trump bashed her job performance and jokingly suggested he would run for her post and turn the state around. Candidate Trump subsequently changed course during a phone interview with in which he said he wanted her endorsement. Martinez never gave it.
In a February visit to the White House, Martinez said she was a fan of the broad strokes Trump had outlined on an infrastructure overhaul. At a conference in Texas last month, Martinez said Trump’s rhetoric against Mexican immigrants had been “absolutely, totally unfair.”
However, in her Wednesday statement, the governor did not use Trump’s name and instead sniped at another branch of government.
“It’s important to remember that we would not be in this situation to begin with if Congress would act on comprehensive immigration reform — which the governor has often said should make border security a top priority,” Lonergan said.