Following a heavy influx of undocumented foreign immigrants crossing the southern border from Mexico to the U.S., Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced plans to send 1,000 Texas National Guard servicemembers to the border to help secure the territory, according to Texas newspaper the Monitor.
The Monitor quotes Sen. Juan Hinjosa, saying Perry will reveal plans to send 1,000 troops at a cost of $12 million per month at a news conference July 21. The article continues to attribute more information to a memo that was given to the Monitor by an official who requested to remain anonymous.
Thousands of fleeing children
The report comes after a wave of controversy surrounding about 2,500 fleeing foreign children that have entered the U.S. hoping to find asylum, according to Military Times. Those children are attempting to escape dangerous and violent regions in El Salvador, Honduras and other locations. Now, thousands of them are being held on three Defense Department installations including Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas; Naval Base Ventura County, California; and Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
A move long in the making
Gov. Perry reportedly spoke about Texas securing the national border itself at a recent Republican barbecue in Iowa, according to The Washington Post.
"If the federal government does not do its constitutional duty to secure the Southern border of the United States, the state of Texas will do it," Perry said at the event.
Aside from this action, the governor also called on President Barack Obama to send 1,000 additional troops to the border in a June 11 editorial, according to Military Times. Reportedly, the governor wanted additional servicemembers protecting the border until more border patrol officials could be hired, trained and dispatched to protect against waves of undocumented foreigners.
In a Fox News Sunday report, Perry said that fleeing children could be taking attention away from other more dangerous foreigners, such as members of drug cartels.