North Carolina is bracing for Hurricane Erin, and communities across the coast are already under a state of emergency. Families are preparing for flooding, power outages, and the loss of homes and livelihoods. At this critical moment, our National Guard has one job: protecting and supporting the people of North Carolina.

Governor Josh Stein has announced that 200 Guard members are being deployed to the coast to help with storm preparation and disaster response. That is exactly where they are needed. These men and women have the skills, training, and equipment to save lives, restore infrastructure, and help our neighbors recover.

But while North Carolina families face a dangerous hurricane, the Trump administration is pressuring states to send their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. as part of a militarized response to what the president has called a “crime emergency.” Six other states have already sent their Guardsmen, turning D.C. into a political battlefield and distracting from real emergencies at home. Washington’s own crime statistics show a 30-year low, while North Carolina faces an actual natural disaster that threatens lives and communities.

Sending our Guard away during a hurricane would be reckless and irresponsible. These troops are not pawns for political theater in D.C.—they are lifelines for our coastal residents. Every truck, every medic, every rescue team counts when storm surge rises and families need help evacuating. North Carolina taxpayers fund the Guard to protect North Carolina, not to be deployed hundreds of miles away in a show of force that has nothing to do with our state’s safety.

Governor Stein has the authority to keep our Guard home, and he must stand firm. The message is simple: our Guard is for us. Not for D.C. policing. Not for political games. For North Carolina.

Sign this petition if you agree the National Guard must remain here to protect families from Hurricane Erin—not be sent to Washington for someone else’s agenda.