Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican from South Dakota, announced on Tuesday that she would be sending National Guard troops to Texas to assist Republican Greg Abbott, the governor of that state, in managing a “war zone” at the southern border.
Noem stated in a news release, “We’re sending soldiers because the border is a war zone.” “These soldiers’ primary mission will be construction of a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drug cartels, and human trafficking into the United States of America.”
Noem, who is reportedly vying to be the running mate of outgoing President Donald Trump in the election of November, announced that 60 National Guard soldiers will be dispatched to Texas over the course of three months on a rotating basis. In the news release, additional information was withheld due to “security considerations.”
In reaction to Texas’ efforts to fortify the border in the face of threats from the Biden administration, which asserts that it alone has exclusive jurisdiction over the country’s border security, Noem and the South Dakota Legislature convened a joint session last month.
The Texas National Guard is still erecting razor wire barriers, and Democrats have called on Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard. The Supreme Court decided last month that Border Patrol agents could remove the razor wire that the Texas National Guard had installed.
“In the past, when our troops have been deployed to the border, they have faced difficulties due to federal restrictions,” Noem stated to her legislature during the joint session. “I want South Dakota soldiers to take a stand and prevent an invasion, not aid in it. In order to ensure that, we are discussing possible rules of engagement with Texas.”
Noem is deploying National Guard members to support Texas for the fifth time in the last two and a half years. According to reports, Republican governors of Idaho has twice dispatched teams of State Police troopers to the southern border, while governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia have also moved National Guard troops to Texas.
Governor Greg Landry, a Republican from Louisiana, announced on Thursday that he will send National Guard soldiers to Texas.
According to Customs and Border Protection data, there were 176,205 interactions along the southern border in January, the fewest for a month since February 2023. Following 301,983 contacts in December—a record for any month in American history—that was the preceding event. For the 2024 fiscal year, which concludes on September 30, the United States is expected to set a record with over 2.8 million interactions.