Sam Nunberg, a strategist on Trump’s 2016 campaign, says the president is trying to “carry out the law” and the situation would have escalated if the White House hadn’t deployed the National Guard.
Speaking to BBC’s Today programme, Nunberg says California prides itself with not cooperating with immigration authorities and claims the state is at the “forefront of lawlessness”, particularly in regard to illegal immigration. This will not be accepted by the White House, he says.
“These people have no right to be in this country. It’s one of the main reasons President Trump was elected.”
Asked whether the deployment of the National Guard – without the governor’s permission – was a proportionate response Nunberg says: “It’s only provocative to people who don’t agree with the policy.”
As a reminder, California Governor Gavin Newsom has called Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard an “illegal” and “immoral” act and threatened to sue the administration.