Abbott defends deployment along border
Governor says guard needed to deter gang, but critics doubt stats
WESLACO — Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday the deployment of Texas National Guard is necessary to deal with a dramatic escalation of immigrants, drugs and MS-13 gang members crossing the southern border.
The cross-border activity poses serious threat to communities across Texas and the United States, Abbott said during a visit with troops and U.S. Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley.
“Stunningly and disturbingly there has been an increase of more than 200 of MS-13 coming across the border,” Abbott said. “It’s our responsibility on behalf of our fellow Americans that we stop those MS-13 gang members.”
Responding to a spike in illegal immigration, President Donald Trump last week called for a force of as many as 4,000 troops in four states to deploy to the southern border. The president said the troops would remain on the border as a “virtual and personnel wall” until his wall is built.
762 troops already there
Abbot said as of Thursday 762 Texas National Guard had arrived on the border, and their ranks would continue to grow by 300 guardsmen per week until the force reached around 1,400 troops. The total deployment will vary depending on the circumstances on the ground, Abbott said.
The troops will provide Border Patrol with surveillance of the river from the ground and the air, but will not apprehend immigrants or interdict drug trafficking operations. Their task is to observe and report, Abbot said, noting that morale is high and many troops want to take part.
“I have received phone calls from governors of other states who offered their national guard to participate in the operation,” Abbott said.
Critics of Trump’s call to send troops to the border say federal agencies are intentionally using misleading information to justify the deployment. U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen called the operation a decision rooted in the fiction that the border is overrun with illegal immigration.
“I cannot endorse this unwarranted deployment when there are smarter approaches to successfully secure our nation’s borders,” Gonzalez said earlier this week.
Border agents in the Valley are catching around 450 people every day, Abbott said, remarking on the 200 percent increase in the number of immigrants apprehended in March compared to the same period a month ago. He compared the sharp rise to the surge of children and families from Central American who in 2014 overwhelmed immigration agents in the Valley.
The governor also said MS-13 gang members and heroin seizures had increased more than 200 percent, but Abbott did not provide context for claim.
“What the real facts show, if you look at all the years going back decades, you will see the rise that we are dealing with right now is at a substantially high level,” Abbott said.
Crossings at historic low
Even with the spike in March, however, Border Patrol data show the number of immigrants caught illegally crossing the border is historically low. And the rise includes people who arrived openly at international ports to seek asylum, Gonzalez said.
Abbott stood by his statements.
“The president was right to call this action now before the situation gets out of hand,” Abbott said. “We want to shut down cartels and smugglers who are trying to import crime into the United States.”