Texas National Guard Deploying To Border Within 72 Hours; DOJ Enacts “Zero Tolerance” Policy
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sat, 04/07/2018
Arizona and Texas will be sending 400 National Guard members to the southern border in response to President Donald Trump’s Wednesday Executive Order directing the troops to “assist the border patrol” in guarding the nation’s existing border fence – and of course the many miles of completely unprotected crossing zones.
The troops will be armed for self defense “depending on the mission set,” according to Brig. Gen. Tracy Norris, commander of the Texas Army National Guard, who added that it was “premature right now to know what the cost will be” of the overall operation.
“Tonight there are National Guard troops moving in support of the border security mission,” said chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White, who added “”The National Guard’s efforts will include aviation, engineering, surveillance, communications, vehicle maintenance and logistical support.”
The deployment will be a joint effort between Trump’s federal imitative and state-level management under what’s known as Title 32. Governors will retain control of the National Guard troops, however the federal government will finance the patrols.
150 Arizona Guard members from will deploy next week, while the Texas National Guard confirmed a deployment of 250 troops over the next 72 hours as an “initial surge” which began shortly after 7 p.m. Friday at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Austin, according to a Guard spokesman.
Brig. Gen. Tracy Norris, commander of the Texas Army National Guard, said the deployment would begin meeting “the priorities of the governor and the president in securing our border.” In addition to troops, the Guard said it would send ground surveillance vehicles and light and medium aircraft. -New York Times
The initial wave of troops falls short of the 2,000 to 4,000 members of the National Guard that Trump told the media he wanted to send – however Defense Secretary James Mattis signed orders on Friday authorizing funding for an additional 4,000 National Guard troops until Sept. 30, who would remain under the “command and control of their respective governors.”
Trump’s deployment was welcome news to Texas Republican leaders, who have been outspoken in their condemnation of cartel-related crime, including drugs, violence and human smuggling. Many Texas legislators had pushed to deploy the National Guard to the border years ago. Texas in fact already has approximately 100 troops at the border as part of a state-level border security operation which began four years ago under then-governor Rick Perry in order to “help combat the brutal Mexican drug cartels that are preying upon our communities,” said Perry.
The 100 National Guard troops who have been at the border play a supporting role to state and federal law enforcement, acting, as state officials describe it, as a “force multiplier.”
“We stand ready to support the needs of the state and the nation at the request of the governor or the president,” Lt. Col. Travis Walters, a spokesman for the Texas Military Department, the agency that oversees the state’s National Guard branches, said in a statement. -NYT
The Rest…HERE
