Pentagon rejects D.C. mayor's request for National Guard to help with bused migrants
CBSN
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has rejected a request from the District of Columbia mayor for the National Guard to help receive migrants bused to Washington, D.C., after determining it would hurt troop readiness.
The Pentagon has concluded that providing the requested support would negatively impact the readiness of the D.C. National Guard and have adverse effects on the guard and its members, a U.S. defense official said in a statement.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had requested that the guard help the non-governmental organization SAMU First Response "with transportation and reception of migrants arriving in the DC area," the statement said. The official went on to note that SAMU First Response has received some federal funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency which is sufficient at this point for the group to continue to help the District.
