District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks after being is sworn in as the seventh elected mayor of the District of Columbia and the first woman to ever be re-elected to the office during a ceremony at the Washington Convention Center, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rejected Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request to have the National Guard deployed to support an influx of migrants arriving in the nation’s capital, a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The spokesperson said that the deployment would “negatively impact” the force’s readiness.
Bowser recently requested the deployment of the city’s National Guard troops to address the influx of migrants bused through the efforts of Republican Governors of Texas and Arizona to address a “growing humanitarian crisis.”
“The Secretary of Defense has declined to approve the DCHSEMA request for DCNG to provide personnel and the DC Armory to assist the NGO, SAMU First Response, with transportation and reception of migrants arriving in the DC area. We have determined providing this support would negatively impact the readiness of the DCNG and have negative effects on the organization and members,” the spokesperson said.
“We understand SAMU First Response has received grant funding through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program, and has indicated that sufficient EFSP funds exist at this point to provide migrant assistance,” the Pentagon spokesperson added.
There have been over 3,000,000 migrants encountered at the southern border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Recent monthly encounters have reached historic highs, surpassing 200,000 consistently.
Bowser’s office didn’t respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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