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Texas Gov. Visits Valley National Guard, Says More Troops on Their Way

5 years 11 months 2 weeks ago Thursday, April 12 2018 Apr 12, 2018 April 12, 2018 6:55 PM April 12, 2018 in News

WESLACO – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the National Guard deployment is necessary to deal with what he calls is an escalation of cross-border traffic. 

He made the announcement Thursday afternoon while meeting with Guardsmen at the armory in Weslaco.

More than 1,000 troops are currently on their way to the southern border.

The governor, surrounded by representatives of both the Texas National Guard and Boder Patrol, announced their goal is to shut down cartels, gangs and smugglers. 

So far, about 762 soldiers are involved in the operation. He says the number is "expected to increase at the rate of 300 per week."

Gov. Abbott also touched on more of the soldiers' roles.

“The National Guard will be involved in activities such as surveillance and flying Lakota helicopters,” said the Governor.

He also addressed on apprehension numbers that he learned in his border security briefing with Border Patrol.

“More than 450 apprehensions per day and so it has gotten back to levels that are very high base upon what we’ve seen in the past decade,” said Gov. Abbott.

Abbott says the funding for their mission is being paid by the Department of Defense.

The National Guard will not be able to detain or apprehend people crossing the border illegally. They will help Border Patrol with surveillance.

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