“Serve Part-Time, Close to Home,” says the recruiting poster for the Air National Guard I just saw on the wall at the airport. Unfortunately, Gov. Sununu and NH Republicans think otherwise, and are abusing the fundamental promise of joining the NH National Guard: that you are serving your state and your local neighbors during natural disasters and other emergencies, by sending 15 NH troops to Texas at a cost of nearly $1 million of NH taxpayer’s money. It is true that NH Guard soldiers can be federally mobilized for major conflicts, but governors of states do not have a role in the military deployment of Guard soldiers out-of-state, that is reserved for the president by the Constitution.
By mobilizing to Texas under the governor’s state authority, those troops cannot lawfully be used to enforce federal immigration laws, and Sununu’s motives for doing so are transparently political. Texas is a long way from NH, and as the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed, states have no authority in enforcing federal immigration law. By using NH Guard troops as political pawns in far-away Texas, Sununu is putting Republican Party politics over country and the Constitution in an election year. He is breaking the local service covenant with NH Guard soldiers and their local communities. Wasting NH taxpayer’s money on an election year political PR exercise dishonors the oaths and commitment of the NH Guard troops. The governor and Legislature should stop playing politics and “bring the troops back home,” where they belong.
Randy Britton
Grantham