LePage plans to send helicopter, 2 National Guard pilots to U.S.-Mexico border

Gov. Paul LePage has approved a federal request to send a National Guard helicopter with two pilots to the U.S.-Mexico border.

LePage’s office said the team will support Customs and Border Patrol in Arizona from July through September.

LePage’s office said Maine will fly the helicopter, but won’t be involved in law enforcement activities. Maine has sent 389 service members to the border since 2006.

Multiple East Coast governors criticizing the separation of children from families at the border announced they won’t deploy National Guard resources near the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to end the practice.

Democratic governors in Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island indicated their refusal to send troops. Republican governors in Maryland and Massachusetts reversed steps to station resources at the border.