Wisconsin National Guard troops heading to Mexico border in Arizona

Two dozen Wisconsin National Guard soldiers and airmen are headed to the Mexico border to help Arizona National Guardsmen and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents.    

The volunteers come from several units throughout Wisconsin and are expected to be in Arizona by the end of the week.

Wisconsin troops are heading to the region at a volatile time as protests mount over the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the border.

Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) criticized the deployment of Wisconsin National Guard members and called on Gov. Scott Walker to withhold troops until the policy ends.

"Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker did the right thing by refusing to commit troops until the Trump administration changes course on these immoral actions. Wisconsin should follow suit to ensure we're on the right side of history," Hintz said in a statement.

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Walker said in April that Wisconsin National Guard troops would help secure the southern border if a request came from the president's administration. That month Trump directed the Department of Defense to support the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to secure the southern border where Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas mobilized their National Guards.  

The Arizona National Guard has requested people trained in jobs ranging from motor vehicle drivers to duty log officers. "They run the gamut from clerks to logistic specialties," said Capt. Joseph Trovato, a Wisconsin National Guard spokesman.

Wisconsin taxpayers will not pay their wages. The service members are mobilizing under a provision where they will still be under the control of their state but get paid by federal funds.

"Right now all forces across the country supporting the southwest border mission still remain under the control of their governors but the funding source is not coming from the State of Wisconsin, it's coming from the Department of Defense,"  Trovato said.

The Wisconsin soldiers and airmen have varied job specialties and will find out their specific jobs when they arrive in Arizona, Trovato said. How long the Wisconsin service members will stay in Arizona is not known, though Trovato said the funding for their deployment extends only through September.

This isn't the first time Wisconsin guardsmen have supported southwest border security missions. In 2006 the Wisconsin National Guard provided equipment and around 1,000 soldiers and airmen for a two-year mission with some guardsmen on the border for a few weeks and some for as long as two years.

In 2010 nearly 1,200 National Guard troops — none from Wisconsin — supported U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents during Operation Phalanx.