BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. John Bel Edwards says Louisiana will keep its National Guard air support team on the Texas border, even as he criticized the Trump administration for separating families who cross into the United States illegally.

Louisiana has a three-person National Guard team and one helicopter on the border.

In a statement Wednesday, Edwards said they will remain there until mid-July as planned. He described it as Louisiana's longstanding practice of providing assistance to neighboring states when requested.

The Democratic governor says Louisiana's National Guard crew "plays no role, direct or indirect, in the ill-conceived policy of separating families."

Edwards described himself as "deeply disturbed" by the Trump administration's decision to separate families apprehended at the border, a policy which has drawn widespread condemnation. The governor called it an "unconscionable practice."