CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR REBUKES TRUMP OVER TROOPS

LIF.» California Gov. Gavin Newsom

S A CR A M E NTO, C A said Monday he’s withdrawing most of the state’s National Guard troops on the Mexico border because he won’t participate in the Trump administration’s “absurd theatrics” on border security.

Still, he acknowledged some troops were doing good work fighting drug crime and said he plans to allow 100 of the roughly 360 state troops now deployed to keep working with the federal government.

“I’m trying to acknowledge there are some legitimate concerns but I’m not going to play into the hype and the politics,” he told reporters before signing an executive order changing the troops’ mission.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown agreed in April to deploy up to 400 troops to the border in response to a request from the Trump administration made to four border states. Brown made it clear then that California troops couldn’t aid in immigration enforcement.

Maj. Gen. David Baldwin of the California National Guard said the troops have not participated in immigration detention but some are conducting camera surveillance that could inadvertently aid in immigration enforcement. — The Associated Press