Sacramento, California - Governor Gavin Newsom signed an order to temporarily extend the California Military Department's authority to sustain the 100-member Cal Guard Joint Task Force currently supporting the United States Customs and Border Protection Counter Terrorism Operations Center (USCBP) at the southern border.

The redeployment extension will be from today, October 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020.

In February, Governor Newsom announced a drawdown of California National Guard troops on the southern border, as well as a new focus on their mission, to ensure their duties do not overlap with the federal government’s border operations.

The focus of Cal Guard members is on the prevention of the flow of illegal drugs and other forms of organized crime. Additionally, the new extension will include the interdiction of illegal pesticides, including carbofuran, a lethal and banned chemical that is increasingly found at illegal cannabis cultivation sites. Cal Guard troops do not engage in the federal government’s immigration operations.