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

From CalMatters’ Wendy Fry:

In a major escalation of immigration enforcement, the Pentagon stated right now that 1,500 active-duty troops might be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border.

This follows President Donald Trump’s “Day One” govt orders ostensibly geared toward bolstering border safety. The troops’ duties will embody working helicopters, aiding border patrol brokers, offering airlift help for deportation flights and aiding within the development of obstacles, in accordance with a number of officers aware of the orders. The deployment dietary supplements the roughly 2,500 Nationwide Guard and Reserve forces already stationed on the border.

The escalation in militarizing the border might additional pressure relations between the U.S. and Mexico. The Consul Basic for the U.S. in Tijuana, Christopher Teal, stated Wednesday that Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum are scheduled to talk by cellphone this week.

The Trump administration can also be reviewing the Rebellion Act to see if it might permit for using army troops for regulation enforcement, a transfer that will severely stretch the boundaries of current legal guidelines stopping army involvement in home affairs. Such use of the army would undoubtedly face instant authorized challenges.

In the meantime, the federal Division of Justice is intensifying its stance by directing prosecutors to analyze state and native officers who “obstruct” federal immigration efforts, probably resulting in legal prices.

CalMatters beforehand reported how a conservative group led by Trump adviser Stephen Miller despatched letters to California leaders and former San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas, days earlier than Christmas, warning they may go to jail over sanctuary insurance policies that shield undocumented residents.

A memo from Performing Deputy Legal professional Basic Emil Bove says state and native actors who decline to supply details about residents’ immigration standing to federal authorities must be reported to the Justice Division.

California Legal professional Basic Rob Bonta known as the memo “a scare tactic, plain and simple.”

• Bontain an emailed assertion: “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 staff are shedding their jobs at a Vacaville jailafter the state misplaced a long-running labor dispute with California’s largest union of state workers.

As CalMatters’ Joe Garcia explains, for almost a decade, the California Correctional Well being Care Companies (the state company that oversees medical care in state prisons) has had a contract with PRIDE Industries, a nonprofit that gives jobs and coaching for disabled staff.

However the Service Staff Worldwide Union Native 1000 challenged the association, saying these jobs, by regulation, have to be stuffed by public workers, not exterior contractors. The State Personnel Board agreed with the union, prompting one medical jail facility in Vacaville to put off all 60 PRIDE staff by February.

That features Kathy Hart, a 57-year-old with Lupus, who labored on the facility for 3 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.”

Learn extra right here.

CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall:

It’s that point of yr once more: When California counts its homeless inhabitants.

This week and subsequent, 1000’s of counters will fan out throughout the state to tally each unhoused particular person they see sleeping on the road, in a automotive or in an RV. The outcomes of this “point-in-time count” might be compiled by the U.S. Division of Housing and City Growth and used for all the things from distributing federal funds to crafting state and native coverage.

Final yr’s rely tallied greater than 187,000 homeless Californians.

The rely is way from good — it’s certain to overlook individuals sleeping in hidden areas or on a buddy’s sofa. Some counties have modified their strategies, making year-to-year comparisons onerous. Santa Clara County, for instance, employed a brand new vendor for this week’s rely in an effort to acquire extra correct knowledge.

Not each county in California is taking part. The feds require the counts each two years, and plenty of did it final yr.

Different counties counting this yr embody Riverside, Fresno, San Diego, Contra Costa and Santa Cruz. Los Angeles County postponed its rely due to the wildfires.