Patrick wants $12 million to keep Guard on border

Saying that drug cartels are “ramping up” their efforts as the Texas National Guard prepares to leave the Rio Grande Valley next month, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrickannounced Tuesday that he’s seeking an additional $12 million to keep the troops there through May.

Beyond that, he added at a Capitol news conference, he would work to get a supplemental bill to fund deployments through August, in the hopes that the Texas Legislature would pass a budget that includes deployment funding beyond that. The Senate’s budget includes about $815 million for border security, which is more than the previous seven years combined.

“Under no circumstances should we have a complete pullout of the National Guard next month,” Patrick said. “We have that [$12 million], and we need to spend that money to keep the Guard there.”

The National Guard was deployed last summer in response to the surge of unaccompanied minors and family units, mainly from Central America, who breached the Texas-Mexico border. Former Gov. Rick Perry ordered up to 1,000 troops in response. That was in addition to a surge of Texas Department of Public Safety officers, which Patrick said would remain in place.

Patrick did not say if any of the Guard members’ duties would change should the $12 million be approved. They are currently used for surveillance and other support roles and do not have arresting powers.

The lieutenant governor also predicted another surge of illegal immigration this spring and summer because of what he said was President Obama’s refusal to enforce immigration laws.

State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said Tuesday that he supports the DPS surge to combat the area’s problems.

“We have a problem down on the border, we have drug trafficking, we have human smuggling, we have guns going south,” he said.

But Hinojosa disagreed that his region needed the National Guard, adding that money earmarked for the Guard deployment could be better spent on DPS resources and equipment.

“I support maximizing and using the military assets, surveillance drones whatever we have” with DPS, he said. “I don’t think it’s effective to have thousands of guardsmen on the border. I think it’s counterproductive.”

Border security was the top concern for 37 percent of Texas Republicans, according to an October 2014 poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune. Immigration followed at 26 percent. That’s compared with 7 and 9 percent of Democrats that identified border security and immigration as their top concerns, respectively.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/10/patrick-wants-12-million-keep-guard-border/.