Pentagon: 1,500 troops will deploy to U.S.-Mexico border

From CalMatters’ Wendy Fry: 

In a significant escalation of immigration enforcement, the Pentagon said today that 1,500 active-duty troops will be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border. 

This follows President Donald Trump’s “Day One” executive orders ostensibly aimed at bolstering border security. The troops’ responsibilities will include operating helicopters, assisting border patrol agents, providing airlift support for deportation flights and aiding in the construction of barriers, according to multiple officials familiar with the orders. The deployment supplements the approximately 2,500 National Guard and Reserve forces already stationed at the border.

The escalation in militarizing the border could further strain relations between the U.S. and Mexico. The Consul General for the U.S. in Tijuana, Christopher Teal, said Wednesday that Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum are scheduled to speak by phone this week. 

The Trump administration is also reviewing the Insurrection Act to see if it could allow for the use of military troops for law enforcement, a move that would severely stretch the limits of existing laws preventing military involvement in domestic affairs. Such use of the military would undoubtedly face immediate legal challenges.

Meanwhile, the federal Department of Justice is intensifying its stance by directing prosecutors to investigate state and local officials who “obstruct” federal immigration efforts, potentially leading to criminal charges. 

CalMatters previously reported how a conservative organization led by Trump adviser Stephen Miller sent letters to California leaders and former San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas, days before Christmas, warning they could go to prison over sanctuary policies that protect undocumented residents.

A memo from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove says state and local actors who decline to provide information about residents’ immigration status to federal authorities should be reported to the Justice Department. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the memo “a scare tactic, plain and simple.”

• Bonta, in an emailed statement: “My team is reviewing the U.S. Department of Justice’s memo, and we’ll be prepared to take legal action if the Trump Administration’s vague threats turn to illegal action.”

Dozens of disabled workers are losing their jobs at a Vacaville prison, after the state lost a long-running labor dispute with California’s largest union of state employees.

As CalMatters’ Joe Garcia explains, for nearly a decade, the California Correctional Health Care Services (the state agency that oversees medical care in state prisons) has had a contract with PRIDE Industries, a nonprofit that provides jobs and training for disabled workers.

But the Service Employees International Union Local 1000 challenged the arrangement, saying those jobs, by law, must be filled by public employees, not outside contractors. The State Personnel Board agreed with the union, prompting one medical prison facility in Vacaville to lay off all 60 PRIDE workers by February.

That includes Kathy Hart, a 57-year-old with Lupus, who worked at the facility for three years.

• Hart: “Just because I have a disability, I don’t have to rely on my Social Security. I can pay my car note and my insurance. I can pay for my medicine.”

Read more here.

CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall:

It’s that time of year again: When California counts its homeless population. 

This week and next, thousands of counters will fan out across the state to tally every unhoused person they see sleeping on the street, in a car or in an RV. The results of this “point-in-time count” will be compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and used for everything from distributing federal funds to crafting state and local policy. 

Last year’s count tallied more than 187,000 homeless Californians.

The count is far from perfect — it’s sure to miss people sleeping in hidden areas or on a friend’s couch. Some counties have changed their methods, making year-to-year comparisons hard. Santa Clara County, for example, hired a new vendor for this week’s count in an effort to obtain more accurate data.

Not every county in California is participating. The feds require the counts every two years, and many did it last year. 

Other counties counting this year include Riverside, Fresno, San Diego, Contra Costa and Santa Cruz. Los Angeles County postponed its count because of the wildfires.