Texas Governor Greg Abbott may be receiving help from another Republican governor in his fight against illegal immigration.
This week, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he wants to send soldiers from his state’s National Guard to Texas to help support the efforts that Abbott’s government is taking to combat the surge of illegal immigration.
Landry took a trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, last weekend with 12 other Republican governors to witness just how bad illegal immigration has gotten at the border town.
The trip was inspired in large part by a ruling from the Supreme Court, which allowed Biden administration federal agents to remove the razor wire that Texas had installed there at the border to dissuade illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
It’s just one example of how Texas has tried to take border security matters into their own hands, since the Biden administration hasn’t done much at all.
On Monday, Landry spoke with Fox News about the matter, saying:
“Texas has always been a great big brother to the state of Louisiana. They’ve always helped us in our time of need, and now it’s time for Louisiana to reciprocate that.
“We’re going to work with the legislative leadership. I was on the phone with them yesterday afternoon on my way back from Eagle Pass, to talk to them about finding the funding necessary to send National Guard troops down there to help Governor Abbott and the Texas National Guard to seal the border.”
State Senator Cameron Henry, who’s the Republican president of the chamber, spoke to local media outlet KPLC 7 News that the party estimates that the plan would cost roughly $3 million. He also added that they’re working on how they would fund the plan right now.
Henry said:
“That’s what we’ll work towards funding, either during the special session on crime or the regular session. We’ll also have to look and check to see whether or not the National Guard actually has that money in their budget now.”
There are about 1,000 troops with the National Guard in Louisiana, and most of them work civilian jobs as well. If they were to be sent over to Texas, they would need to be absent from those jobs.
Lieutenant Colonel Noel Collins, with the Louisiana National Guard, commented on the situation and what being sent to Texas would mean to those who serve with the organization. He said:
“Anytime that they would be called away for those missions, they need to inform their employers, and then they work with those employers to see how those conditions continue. Any reimbursement from the employers to the soldier, that’s worked out with the individual company or agency, so that’s not something we can necessarily speak to.”
Texas has been fighting with the federal government ever since President Joe Biden took office. But, tensions between the two hit a high-water mater in January when the Biden administration was given authority to cut down the razor wire fencing Texas had installed at the border.
