Texas Governor Perry Deploys 1,000 Troops to the Border
At a press conference in Austin yesterday, Texas Governor
Rick Perry announced plans to tighten security along the Rio Grande
Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I will not stand idly by while our citizens are under assault and little children from Central America are detained in squalor," Gov. Perry said. "We are too good a country for that to occur. That is why I'm using my executive authority as governor of Texas and activating the national guard.”
Gov. Perry is authorizing as many as 1,000 troops. The decision comes amid a the continued surge of of tens of thousands of child immigrants from Central America crossing the border.
Gov. Perry and law enforcement officials in the area have said that the diversion of resources is pushing crime up in the area, adding that unaccompanied children make up just 20 percent of these illegal crossings.
"As the brave men and women of our border patrol are pulled away from their law enforcement duties to give humanitarian aid, drug cartels, human traffickers, individual criminals are exploiting this tragedy for their own criminal opportunities," Gov. Perry said.
Is this type of action necessary, or is it more of a political move? Joining The Takeaway to weigh in is Laura Collins, the Director of Immigration Policy at the American Action Forum, and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
"I think it over simplifies it to call it just a political or campaign issue," says Collins. "There is something [Perry's] going to get out of it from the base, but at the same time, border security and immigration are issues that Texans deal with every single day. Safety and security matter to Texans, and [Perry] is addressing what he perceives is a gap in the federal response."
Collins adds that Texas law enforcement officials, along with federal border patrol agents, have been attempting to alert the Obama Administration of the escalating crisis at the border for the last two years.
"Perry is limited in what he can call the National Guard for," says Collins. "If President Obama were to call up the National Guard, he would be able to call them to assist U.S. border patrol. Perry is only allowed to call them up to assist with state law enforcement—they're only going to be assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety in trying to catch criminal activity, rather than assisting with the actual immigration issue."
Collins believes that America's immigration problem is multi-layered, and stems from an Obama Administration policy on deferred action for childhood arrivals, along with rampant poverty and outrageous violence in the home countries of these migrants.
"You have more factors working here than just an Administration-created problem or just an instability problem," Collins adds.
However, not all agree with Collins. Judge Jenkins says that there actually is not much crime happening at the Texas border nowadays.
"From what I understand from the sheriffs is there is a very minor uptick in crime there, and the best way to deal with that is to add a few more sheriffs deputies," says Judge Jenkins.
Jenkins says that the National Guard may help Texas Department of Public Safety officers get relief from long schedules that sometimes exceed 60 hours per week. He remains unsure if it will be worth the price tag—Jenkins says that it could cost as much as $5 million per week to have the National Guard deployed.
“I will not stand idly by while our citizens are under assault and little children from Central America are detained in squalor," Gov. Perry said. "We are too good a country for that to occur. That is why I'm using my executive authority as governor of Texas and activating the national guard.”
Gov. Perry is authorizing as many as 1,000 troops. The decision comes amid a the continued surge of of tens of thousands of child immigrants from Central America crossing the border.
Gov. Perry and law enforcement officials in the area have said that the diversion of resources is pushing crime up in the area, adding that unaccompanied children make up just 20 percent of these illegal crossings.
"As the brave men and women of our border patrol are pulled away from their law enforcement duties to give humanitarian aid, drug cartels, human traffickers, individual criminals are exploiting this tragedy for their own criminal opportunities," Gov. Perry said.
Is this type of action necessary, or is it more of a political move? Joining The Takeaway to weigh in is Laura Collins, the Director of Immigration Policy at the American Action Forum, and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
"I think it over simplifies it to call it just a political or campaign issue," says Collins. "There is something [Perry's] going to get out of it from the base, but at the same time, border security and immigration are issues that Texans deal with every single day. Safety and security matter to Texans, and [Perry] is addressing what he perceives is a gap in the federal response."
Collins adds that Texas law enforcement officials, along with federal border patrol agents, have been attempting to alert the Obama Administration of the escalating crisis at the border for the last two years.
"Perry is limited in what he can call the National Guard for," says Collins. "If President Obama were to call up the National Guard, he would be able to call them to assist U.S. border patrol. Perry is only allowed to call them up to assist with state law enforcement—they're only going to be assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety in trying to catch criminal activity, rather than assisting with the actual immigration issue."
Collins believes that America's immigration problem is multi-layered, and stems from an Obama Administration policy on deferred action for childhood arrivals, along with rampant poverty and outrageous violence in the home countries of these migrants.
"You have more factors working here than just an Administration-created problem or just an instability problem," Collins adds.
However, not all agree with Collins. Judge Jenkins says that there actually is not much crime happening at the Texas border nowadays.
"From what I understand from the sheriffs is there is a very minor uptick in crime there, and the best way to deal with that is to add a few more sheriffs deputies," says Judge Jenkins.
Jenkins says that the National Guard may help Texas Department of Public Safety officers get relief from long schedules that sometimes exceed 60 hours per week. He remains unsure if it will be worth the price tag—Jenkins says that it could cost as much as $5 million per week to have the National Guard deployed.
Produced by:
Megan QuellhorstEditors:
T.J. Raphael
