DC Mayor Bowser renews request for National Guard support with bused-in illegal migrants

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) renewed her request on Thursday for the D.C. National Guard to assist with the illegal migrants arriving in the capital. The mayor's initial request was denied by the Pentagon last week.

"I have been honored to work with the men and women of the D.C. National Guard many times and today we renewed our request for their assistance," Bowser wrote on Twitter.

Last week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin refused Bowser's initial request after determining that "providing this support would negatively impact the readiness of the DCNG and have negative effects on the organization and members."

Busloads of illegal migrants have been arriving in D.C. from border states Texas and Arizona. Republican Govs. Greg Abbott (Texas) and Doug Ducey (Ariz.) began the busing program in the last few months in response to the Biden administration's failure to contain the crisis at the U.S. southern border.

The mayor clarified that her help request would begin on Aug. 22nd and run through the beginning of December, at which time it would be reevaluated. The DCNG would work with the city's government, the mayor said, to "help prevent a prolonged humanitarian crisis in our nation's capital resulting from the daily arrival of migrants in need of assistance" by, for instance, establishing and operating "respite sites."

The mayor added that over the course of her tenure in office, which began in 2015, she has requested and received support from the DCNG nearly 50 times. "Each time, these operational, apolitical requests have been granted," she wrote on Twitter.

Bowser, in this case, is asking that the DCNG assist with managing the sites set up to assist the busloads of illegal migrants arriving in D.C. Duties would including feeding, sanitation, and ground support, according to the request.