President Donald Trump thanked California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) Thursday on Twitter for “doing the right thing” by agreeing to send 400 National Guardsmen to bolster the United States’ southern border Thursday.

Trump alarmed illegal immigrant activists last week when he proclaimed that he wanted to send 2,000-4,000 National Guardsmen to guard the border. A White House statement said the National Guard would be deployed “to give our Border Patrol agents the support they deserve” in their fight against criminal activity and the flow of drugs until Congress “takes the action necessary to close the loopholes undermining our border security efforts.”

Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas agreed to send approximately 1,600 National Guardsmen to help boost border security efforts. Brown finally agreed Wednesday to contribute 400 National Guardsmen in addition to the 250 members already involved, including 55 already stationed at the border.

“California Governor Jerry Brown is doing the right thing and sending the National Guard to the Border. Thank you Jerry, good move for the safety of our Country!” Trump tweeted.

Although Brown — a vehement opponent of much of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda — appeared to cave by sending the National Guardsmen, he included some key caveats.

[lz_ndn video=”33716810″]

“But let’s be crystal clear on the scope of this mission,” Brown wrote in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Department of Defense Secretary James Mattis Wednesday.

“This will not be a mission to build a new wall. It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws,” Brown wrote.

Brown included his letter in a tweet Wednesday afternoon, saying, “California responds.”

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

Brown gave California’s National Guardsmen permission to participate in operations “targeting transnational criminal gangs, human traffickers, and illegal firearm and drug smugglers.” Noting that California backed “similar targeted assistance in 2006 under President [George W.] Bush and in 2010 under President [Barack] Obama,” he agreed that “combating these criminal threats are priorities for all Americans — Republicans and Democrats.”

However, Brown did not allow the National Guardsmen to “enforce immigration laws, arrest people for violation of immigration laws, guard individuals taken into custody for immigration-related violations, nor support the enforcement of immigration laws.” He also didn’t permit them to act in a “direct law enforcement role” or participate in border wall construction.

Related: ‘Your State Is a Sanctuary Disaster,’ Ingraham Schools California Congressman

Brown also wrote in his letter that there “is no massive wave of migrants pouring into California” at this time.

Brown’s partial caving came more than three months after California became an official sanctuary state, prohibiting local law enforcement officials from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement officials in most cases. Brown also incurred immigration enforcement officials’ wrath when he pardoned five criminal illegal immigrants facing potential deportation in March.

“Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want?” Trump tweeted March 31.

Although California at large is a sanctuary state, a growing list of California cities have bucked state officials and joined the Trump administration in legal action against the sanctuary status.

PoliZette writer Kathryn Blackhurst can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter.

(photo credit, homepage image: Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 3.0, by Gage Skidmore; photo credit, article image: Jerry Brown, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Neon Tommy)