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Vanessa Romo, NPR

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers pulls National Guard from border, says 'no justification'

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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, pictured earlier this month, issued an executive order on Monday recalling all National Guard and airmen troops from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, pictured earlier this month, issued an executive order on Monday recalling all National Guard and airmen troops from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jose Luis Magana

Gov. Tony Evers recalled Wisconsin's National Guard troops from the Southern border, making him the third state leader to challenge the Trump administration's claims of a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico line.

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

"Therefore, there is no justification for the ongoing presence of Wisconsin National Guard personnel at the border," the newly sworn-in governor added.

A statement about the executive order, signed Monday, offers a bit more detail: 112 Guard soldiers and airmen, under the command of then-Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, were deployed to the Arizona border on June 21, 2018, to assist with border security.

Now, Evers is revoking that order.

It is unclear exactly when the troops will return but Evers said he had directed the adjutant general to "promptly withdraw" all personnel. "I cannot support keeping our brave service 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, citing mounting criminal activity. "It's a great thing to do because we have an invasion of drugs, invasion of gangs, invasion of people. And it's unacceptable," Trump said at the announcement.

But even before the declaration, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, also a Democrat, ordered the removal of the majority of Guard troops deployed at her state's border — including soldiers from Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Wisconsin. About a week later, California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also moved to pull out most of the 360 troops serving as border security alongside federal agents. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Correction (2019-02-26 05:00:00 UTC):

An earlier version of this story misspelled the middle name of New Mexico's governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, as Lunan.