Gov. Scott Walker showed his support Monday for President Donald Trump’s executive order to use troops to secure the Mexican border by offering to send the state’s own National Guard to “take it a step further.”
In an interview with conservative talk radio host Jay Weber on WISN radio, Walker committed to sending troops there from the state’s National Guard if asked by the Trump administration.
“Absolutely. Not only would I do it, I would take it a step further,” Walker told conservative host Jay Weber on WISN radio.
Last Friday, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) had called on Walker to refuse to send any National Guard members from Wisconsin as part of President Trump’s plan. Pocan wrote in a letter to the governor, “Our service members in Wisconsin should not be used as pawns while President Trump attempts to rally his base after Congress has repeatedly rejected his demands to build a border wall.”
Walker disagreed with that argument on WISN Monday morning, arguing that as president both George W. Bush and Barack Obama deployed Guard troops to the border.
In a letter to Congressman Pocan, Walker expressed his support of President Donald Trump’s actions at America’s southern border.
“Let me be clear: the southern border of the United States of America is not secure,” Walker said. “One of the most fundamental responsibilities of our federal government is to protect our borders and shores. Sadly, through several administrations, the federal government has failed in this fundamental responsibility.”
Pocan responded with a statement of his own on Monday:
“Governor Walker, let me be clear: arrests at the southern border of the U.S. are at a historic low. However, both you and President Trump are refusing to accept the facts and are instead twisting the narrative for political purposes to rally the Republican base,” Pocan said.
“President Trump is not sending troops to the southern border to stop the flow of drugs from Mexico,” Pocan added. “It is clear that his goal is to apprehend migrants, many of whom are children fleeing violence in their home countries. Sending members of the Wisconsin National Guard to militarize the border against unarmed men, women, and children is absurd. Further, you will cause undue harm to the families of Wisconsin National Guard members as your actions are only being done for political purposes.”
