opinion

Sandoval is right — Nevada Guard doesn't belong at border: Editorial

Several western states have answered President Trump’s call to deploy National Guard troops to the Mexican border — notably including California, despite the state government’s general opposition to the president’s immigration policies.

However, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has come out in opposition to sending the Nevada National Guard, saying it would be inappropriate to commit guard members to the mission. The RGJ Editorial Board commends the decision.

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Candidate Trump famously campaigned on the promise to build a wall on the southern U.S. border, without American taxpayers footing the bill. But the Mexican government has steadfastly refused to fund the proposal; a bill to tax remittances has stalled out in the House; and Congress allocated only $1.6 billion for wall construction — less than 9 percent of the president's requested amount — in the budget the president signed last month. Even Trump’s request for the U.S. military to fund construction have been met with little enthusiasm.

With Trump’s latest plan to secure the border with National Guard troops, the buck now has passed to American families and American employers. Guard members will leave behind families and civilian jobs for deployment in border communities. When they arrive at the border, they’re joining a mission in which, for the most part, they can’t participate. Federal law prevents guard members from making arrests, conducting searches or seizing drugs on American soil. And with few exceptions, guard members aren’t allowed to carry weapons.

In other words, the thousands of guard members will be unable to contribute to the core mission of their deployment. It would be like deploying guard members to classrooms during a teacher shortage, but preventing them from grading papers or using textbooks. It’s an unworkable, ill-conceived strategy masquerading as bold action.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new for politicians and the National Guard. Both President Bush and President Obama deployed guard members to the border during their presidencies. In every case, guard members were tasked with immigration enforcement — something they’re not trained to do — and prevented by statute to perform key tasks of the mission.

It’s an uninspired response to a complex problem whenever political solutions fall short. In this case, as with previous cases, it’s the inability of the president to get congressional funding to support his immigration policy, and hoping the National Guard will somehow make it work in spite of a lack of training and resources.

For now, it’s the Department of Defense that will fund the deployment. Defense Secretary James Mattis has said his department will fund the operation through Sept. 30, the end of peak immigration season.

But if the American people want to see the Trump administration’s border security proposals become a lasting reality, they need to be prepared to fund those measures, and let their congressional representatives know that they back proper solutions, not ill-fitting Band-Aid measures.

No matter where you stand on the rest of Trump’s proposed border-securing measures, Gov. Sandoval is right: It’s an inappropriate use of the Nevada National Guard to be deployed for immigration enforcement. The RGJ Editorial Board supports Sandoval’s position.

Editorials reflect the consensus of the Reno Gazette Journal editorial board and are written by one of its members. Kelly Ann Scott is the newspaper’s executive editor. Brett McGinness is the RGJ’s engagement editor. Community members include Enrique Carmona, Barbara Courtnay, Lee Herz Dixon and Sam Stynen. The editorial board operates separately from the newsroom. Its opinions do not affect news coverage.