Frustrated by his inability to persuade Congress to pay for his border wall, President Donald Trump declared Monday that he would send troops to protect the border with Mexico until the wall is built.
"Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump said at a White House meeting with Eastern European leaders.
"It's a big step. We really haven't done that before, or certainly not very much before."
Less than six weeks ago, Trump tweeted his praise for a "45 year low on illegal border crossings this year. Ice and Border Patrol Agents are doing a great job for our Country."
The president offered no details on how many troops he would send or what they would do.
Trump said he would be attending a meeting in "a little while" to discuss a plan for the troops.
"This is all going to be fake enforcement," Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego said in an interview.
"Military personnel do not have the right to arrest civilians. They are probably not going to have the right to have their weapons loaded ... It's just a waste of time, resources and money," he said.
If they are deployed, many of those troops would likely come from Arizona's National Guard, with state taxpayers covering the bill.
The last two presidents both put troops at the border:
-From 2006 through 2008, President George W. Bush stationed 6,000 Guard members at the border, 2,400 of them in Arizona.
Bush announced the deployment in Yuma, as part of a larger immigration reform plan.
-In 2010, President Barack Obama sent 1,200 troops, 500 in Arizona.
Obama was under pressure from Southwestern governors to gain control over the border. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had recently signed SB 1070 into law, creating a confrontation with Obama over immigration enforcement.
The combined Bush and Obama border deployments cost $1.4 billion.
As governor, Doug Ducey would have to activate the Arizona Guard for border duty.
The governor has already used the Guard in the "Border Strike Force" he created in 2015 with the Department of Public Safety.
In a statement to 12 News, Ducey's spokesman said:
"The governor has been in touch with the Department of Homeland Security secretary, and we are awaiting additional details. Arizona's Border Strike force is an example of how we can enhance public safety when state, local and federal authorities work together to secure our border, and Gov. Ducey looks forward to boosting these efforts to keep the people of Arizona safe."