Gov. Rick Perry is set to announce Monday that he’s going to activate and deploy about 1,000 troops with the National Guard to the Texas-Mexico border.
Democrat state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa told The Monitor — a newspaper in McAllen, Texas — about the Republican governor’s plans. But he didn’t give details, The Hill reported. The Monitor, however, reported possession of a memo about the deployment plan from another state official’s office.
The memo said, in part, The Hill reported: “This is not a militarization of the border. The DPS [Department of Public Safety] and the National Guard are working to keep any drug and human trafficking south of [U.S. Highway] 83 and with the goal of keeping any smuggling from entering major highways to transport East/West/and North.”
Mr. Hinojosa said to The Monitor that the National Guard isn’t equipped to handle all the action currently taking place at the border.
“They [cartels] are taking advantage of the situation,” he said. “But our local law enforcement from the sheriff’s offices of the different countries to the different police departments are taking care of the situation. This is a civil matter, not a military matter. What we need is more resources to hire more deputies. Hire more Border Patrol.”
The Texas National Guard troop deployment is estimated to cost about $12 million a month, The Hill reported. Troops are supposed to be sent in increments, with the full 1,000 planned to hit the border within a month.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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