Texas sends troops to Mexico border
The Texas National Guard has begun deploying troops to help secure the state’s southern border with Mexico as President Donald Trump has been unable to get the US Congress or Mexico to fully fund his proposed wall along the border.
The deployment, announced on Friday by Texas officials, comes after Trump directed defence secretary James Mattis to request the use of National Guard personnel to help the Department of Homeland Security secure the border in four southwestern US states, including Texas. Mattis on Friday authorised the funding for up to 4,000 National Guard troops for the operation through September 30, a department of defence memo showed. The troops will be under the “command and control” of their respective governors, it said.
Trump has failed so far to persuade either the Mexican government or the U.S. Congress to fully fund a wall he wants to build along the border. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday sharply rebuked Trump over the plan.
The Texas Army National Guard said 250 guardsmen along with aircraft, vehicles and surveillance equipment were to be deployed along the state’s border with Mexico within the next 72 hours.
Exact details of the mission, including the total number of troops to be deployed and the cost, were yet to be determined, Brigadier General Tracy Norris, commander of the Texas Army National Guard, told a news conference.
The National Guard has operated along the border for decades. About 100 members of the Texas Military Department are currently assigned along the border in an “observe and report” role, Norris noted.
In Arizona, some 150 National Guard members will be sent to the border next week.