Missouri lawmakers approve legislation to fund National Guard deployment to Texas

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri General Assembly sent its first bill to the governor’s desk Wednesday, and it involved money to send troops to the southern border.

Roughly 200 Missouri National Guard soldiers and 11 Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) troopers are currently in Texas to help with border security. Back in February, Gov. Mike Parson asked lawmakers to approve more than $2 million to fund the deployment. That legislation is now headed to Parson’s office for his signature.

“They just don’t physically have the resources and the manpower to take care of a 1,250-mile stretch of a border line,” Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe said. “Going to the border is sad because you know there are people coming across who just want a better way of life for their family and they don’t know any better.”

Before March, Missouri already had nearly 250 National Guard troops deployed to the border to help the federal government, but the governor wanted to send more resources at the request of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

“I think this goes to the less magistrates of if the feds aren’t going to enforce the laws that were passed and needed to be enacted, then we, the states, need to join forces together because this does have an effect on our state,” Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said.

The additional soldiers and troops come with a price tag. Parson announced in February that he wanted to help Abbott by sending Missouri resources to the southern border, but it’s up to Missouri taxpayers to pay the cost. That comes after Parson met with governors from more than a dozen states in Eagle Pass, TX, to get a better idea of Operation Lone Star and to offer more resources.

Eagle Pass is a Texas city that has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate. The discourse started after the state and U.S. Border Patrol agents began denying entry into the county. Abbott touted the state’s efforts during the visit to reinforce border security, like installing additional razor wire.

“It’s sad that we as a state have to spend our hard-earned tax dollars to make sure that we’re doing our part to secure the border,” Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said.

According to the state’s Budget Director, Dan Haug, the state has $4 million set aside in an emergency fund to pay for the deployment. Haug told lawmakers last week they need to approve the additional $2 million as a backstop for the state. The House gave first-round approval to the $2.2 million legislation back in March, following a 30-2 vote in the Senate Thursday.

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Even though the legislation received bipartisan support in both chambers, earlier this year, some Democrats questioned the governor’s decision as the state is short more than 100 MSHP troopers.

“I definitely, definitely support our troops, but I really support them in Missouri with taxpayer dollars from Missouri,” Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis, said.

Over the weekend, Kehoe visited the highway patrol troopers in McAllen, Texas, where members are assisting law enforcement officers.

“Texas DPS (Department of Public Safety), really their strategy is to use the devices that they have, whether that’s constantine wire or the floating barriers you’ve seen, to funnel these immigrants to a central point of entry where they can be processed and brought through the right way,” Kehoe said.

Kehoe, who is running for governor, said last year, more than $460 million was spent in Missouri taking care of illegal immigrants.

Last month, Kehoe spent the weekend in Laredo, TX, to visit Missouri National Guard members who are assisting the Department of Homeland Security with border security operations.

“The sad news is it shouldn’t be the states that are doing this,” Kehoe said. “Every state effectively is a border state. The federal government should have policies in place now that locks our borders down. It’s taxing on school districts, it’s taxing on communities and it’s taxing on our public safety.”

According to the governor’s office, from March 3 through April 9, MSHP troopers assisted Texas DPS troopers in nearly 1,200 traffic stops, 447 undocumented migrants, and 45 undocumented migrant turn-backs.

Troops are assigned to work 12-hour shifts alongside a Texas DPS trooper. Officers are typically involved in intercepting undocumented migrants on foot and in vehicles and observing them until U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers respond.

Since March 15, Missouri National Guard members have been serving side-by-side with soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard to conduct security patrols on the Rio Grande River. Since the start of their deployment, Missouri soldiers have provided assistance with 624 undocumented migrant surrenders and 68 undocumented migrant detections and turn-backs.

Parson is expected to pass the $2.2 million legislation.

Missouri is joining 14 other states in deploying resources to the southern border. The state’s activation plan in Texas is set to expire this summer, but the governor could extend the executive order.

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