WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation directing the National Guard to be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump said Wednesday in a memorandum to his secretaries of defense and homeland security and to his attorney general that the "situation at the border has now reached a point of crisis.''

The document orders the Secretary of Defense to support the Department of Homeland Security in securing the southern border to stop the flow of drugs and people. And it orders the agency heads to submit a report within 30 days outlining what other steps can be taken.

Trump says that "lawlessness" at the southern border is "fundamentally incompatible with the safety, security, and sovereignty of the American people." And he said his administration "has no choice but to act."

The Mexican foreign ministry said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has told Mexico's top diplomat that U.S. National Guard troops being deployed to the border “will not carry arms or carry out migration or customs control activities.”

Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray is in Washington on a visit. A foreign ministry statement issued Wednesday night says Nielsen told Videgaray that the troops will only be providing support for Department of Homeland Security work.

It says the deployment will be similar to ones in 2006 under President George Bush and in 2010 with President Barack Obama.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said his state welcomes the deployment of the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border. In a statement Wednesday, Ducey said he looks forward to working closely with federal officials on the issue.