After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hosted a group of state governors at Eagle Pass earlier this month, seven are pledging to send National Guard troops and other personnel to aid in securing the border.
Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Utah, and Tennessee are joining Florida, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, and North Dakota to stop unlawful migration and stem the flow of illegal drugs being brought into the United States, according to Texas Scorecard.
“We’ve worked too hard in Indiana attacking the drug epidemic for more Hoosier lives to be put at risk by a constant supply of killer drugs spilled over an open U.S. border,” Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said. “The only way to resolve this is to stop the historically high flow of illegal immigrants crossing the border.”
The states sending troops have indicated the mission will not be apprehensions but rather administrative tasks and transportation. According to reporting by The Dallas Express, 14 states have offered assistance to Texas since Operation Lone Star began in 2021.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has pledged 150 guardsmen to Texas. The troops will consist of three groups of 50 soldiers and rotate out every 30 days. Troops are expected to be on-site in early March.
Arkansas, which already has a presence at the border, will continue to provide support. Gov. Sarah Huckabee-Sanders said that she would continue to work on a timeline to provide help for overwhelmed border towns.
“Arkansas sent National Guard troops here last year and actually commit today that we’ll continue to do that over the course of this year as much as we can and as much as is needed until the federal government and providers step up and do their jobs,” Sanders said.
Currently, only Republican-led states have committed to sending personnel to Texas. Some states are using National Guard troops for their own issues. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey activated troops last summer to assist with an influx of unlawful migrants. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has deployed forces along the border to help with drug busts. California has seen a significant spike in fentanyl smuggling.
“Fentanyl is a deadly poison ripping families and communities apart,” Newsom said to Fox 5 KUSI. “California is cracking down, and today we’re going further by deploying more CalGuard service members to combat this crisis and keep our communities safe.”
CBP reported confiscating 11,2000 pounds of fentanyl in 2021, followed by 14,700 pounds of the drug in FY 2022. In FY 2023, the CBP seized 27,000 pounds of the drug, an 83.6% increase over the previous year. As little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can kill a person.
Recent reporting indicates that fewer unlawful migrants are attempting to cross into Texas and are moving to different points in Arizona and California due to Texas’ ramp-up of border security. In Eagle Pass, where thousands of migrants were detained each day, Abbott says there are now as few as three detentions.
