Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers joins other states in withdrawing border troops: NPR

Governor Tony Evers recalled the Wisconsin National Guard troops at the southern border, making him the third chief of state to challenge the Trump administration's claims regarding a national emergency. along the Mexican-American line.

"There is simply not enough evidence to support the president's assertion of a national security crisis on our southwestern border," wrote Evers, a Democrat, in a statement. tweet Monday afternoon.

"Therefore, nothing justifies the continued presence of members of the Wisconsin National Guard at the border," added the recently sworn governor.

A statement on the executive order, signed Monday, offers a little more detail: 112 guards soldiers and airmen under the command of the former governor. Scott Walker, a Republican, was deployed to the Arizona border on June 21, 2018 to help secure the border.

Now, Evers revokes this order.

It is unclear exactly when the troops will come back, but Evers said he had ordered the adjutant general to "promptly remove" all staff.

"I can not support keeping our brave men and women away from their families without a clear need or purpose that would actively benefit the people of Wisconsin or our nation," he said.

Earlier this month, President Trump declared a national emergency to fund a border wall, due to the rise of criminal activity.

"It's a good thing to do because we have a drug invasion, a gang invasion, an invasion of people, and that's unacceptable," Trump said at the announcement.

But even before the declaration, New Mexico's governor Michelle Lunan Grisham, also a Democrat, had ordered the withdrawal of the majority of the Guard's troops deployed at the state's border, including soldiers from Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

About a week later, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom also decided to remove most of the 360 ​​border security personnel alongside federal agents.