Congressman Conaway Supports Governor Perry's National Guard Activation

U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway said he supports Monday's decision by the Texas governor to activate the National Guard and deploy those troops to the Texas-Mexico border. Conaway represents CD-11, the congressional district that encompasses the Concho Valley.

Governor Rick Perry announced the deployment of 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border as a show of force to stem the flood of illegal immigrants, many of them children, into the state. In a joint news conference, Perry called the situation a “human tragedy.”

“Children only make up 20% of the number of those people crossing the border illegally,” Perry said in a news conference Monday.

After detailing the last years of criminal history since 2008, over 3000 homicides and 8000 sexual assaults by illegal aliens in Texas, Perry said, “I will not stand idly by while our citizens are under assault and little children are detained in squalor.”

The National Guard troops will not have authority to arrest. However, they will be deployed as post guards and provide surveillance capabilities to law enforcement personnel, such as Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas Rangers. It is to these law enforcement officers to whom Guard troops can call to make arrests and take other law enforcement actions. The deployment is called “Operation Strong Safety.”

The Texas Tribune reported yesterday that “Strong Safety” would cost Texas $5 million per month. In full operation, and added to the existing $12 million Texas is already spending on border security, Texas will be spending $17 million per month for the unforeseeable future.

U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway (CD-11) praised the move in a press release Monday.

“President Obama should follow Gov. Perry’s example and send National Guard members down to Texas’s border with Mexico to help stem the tide of illegal immigration.  While I was meeting with Border Patrol agents near McAllen on July 18th, the agents said if Guard members could take care of some tasks, the Border Patrol could focus on interdiction.  This is a national issue and Texans should not have to assume the cost and responsibility for stopping this flood of illegal migrant children.”

Democrats panned the action. Politico reported Monday night that U.S. Congressman (now nominated to be the next Secretary of HUD) Joaquin Castro said Perry was “Militarizing our border.”

“Militarizing our border is the wrong response to the arrival of children,” Castro is reported to have said in Politico. “I remain hopeful that our state can provide a more helpful response than to send armed soldiers to greet children seeking refuge from violence.”