Gov. Phil Scott turned down the Trump administration’s request to use Vermont National Guard troops to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers this week because he did not consider it necessary, he said on Thursday.

The federal government requested 12 Guard troops for a one-year deployment in clerical positions, Scott said. The troops would have been stationed in federal offices in St. Albans and tasked with aiding ICE agents in immigration enforcement work.

“If this was counterterrorism, maybe cyber work or maybe drug trafficking – if they had asked for help in that way, it would be more clear to me that that’s impacting our state and we should be doing everything we can to help,” Scott said on Thursday morning. “But that didn’t seem to be the case at this point.”

Scott noted that the request from the feds came under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, meaning state governors have the final say. During the heated protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles earlier this year, President Donald Trump invoked Title 10, overriding the authority of California’s governor in order to send in National Guard troops.

“If this were a Title 10 request, there wouldn’t be much we could do,” Scott added. “There was talk of this being a Title 10 to begin with, but this is a Title 32, so I do have a say in that.”

Scott said he gets requests to deploy the state’s National Guard troops every now and then and this is not the first one he has declined. He said these clerical positions could easily be filled using other federal workers, including the thousands who have been furloughed or let go.

Scott’s office had acknowledged on Wednesday that he had turned down the request but offered few details. The governor’s statements shed new light on both what was requested and his decision.

“This one didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, especially because they’re referencing an executive order for the Southern border,” he said.

Scott said he informed the feds of the decision on Wednesday and had yet to hear back from the administration.

Gov. Phil Scott turned down the Trump administration’s request to use Vermont National Guard troops to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers this week because he did not consider it necessary, he said on Thursday.

The federal government requested 12 Guard troops for a one-year deployment in clerical positions, Scott said. The troops would have been stationed in federal offices in St. Albans and tasked with aiding ICE agents in immigration enforcement work.

“If this was counterterrorism, maybe cyber work or maybe drug trafficking – if they had asked for help in that way, it would be more clear to me that that’s impacting our state and we should be doing everything we can to help,” Scott said on Thursday morning. “But that didn’t seem to be the case at this point.”

Scott noted that the request from the feds came under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, meaning state governors have the final say. During the heated protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles earlier this year, President Donald Trump invoked Title 10, overriding the authority of California’s governor in order to send in National Guard troops.

“If this were a Title 10 request, there wouldn’t be much we could do,” Scott added. “There was talk of this being a Title 10 to begin with, but this is a Title 32, so I do have a say in that.”

Scott said he gets requests to deploy the state’s National Guard troops every now and then and this is not the first one he has declined. He said these clerical positions could easily be filled using other federal workers, including the thousands who have been furloughed or let go.

Scott’s office had acknowledged on Wednesday that he had turned down the request but offered few details. The governor’s statements shed new light on both what was requested and his decision.

“This one didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, especially because they’re referencing an executive order for the Southern border,” he said.

Scott said he informed the feds of the decision on Wednesday and had yet to hear back from the administration.