Missouri lawmakers debate $2.3M to send troops, resources to the southern border

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — This week, Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers are headed to the southern border to work with Texas law enforcement, but this comes as lawmakers are debating the cost of this mission.

The state currently has roughly 250 Missouri National Guard members deployed to the southern border, but the governor wants more boots on the ground. Besides highway patrol troopers, more National Guard soldiers are headed to Texas in March. The proposal comes with a price tag and it’s up to Missouri taxpayers to foot the bill.

“I definitely support our troops, but I really support them in Missouri with taxpayer dollars from Missouri,” Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis, said Thursday. “We must remember the bipartisan border patrol bill that’s sitting with the federal government, helped up by Republicans, so we want to remember that when we’re using our tax dollars, if we were getting that passed, we might have some relief at the border.”

Earlier this month, Parson met with governors from more than a dozen states in Eagle Pass, Texas, 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.

Last week, Parson announced he was dispatching 200 National Guardsmen and 22 troopers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) to the U.S.-Mexican border. But some are questioning the governor’s idea.

“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. “I intend to vote for it at this point because I think it’s important to have some sort of response to the crisis at the border that the federal government has clearly punted on.”

Parson’s plan is estimated to cost Missouri $2.3 million. This week, both the House Budget Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee heard legislation to approve the money for the mission.

“If the federal government is unwilling to act, I think it’s great that the states are willing, for the common good of our nation, to put our foot forward and say enough is enough,” Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, said. “I’m thankful the governor has called upon the guard and highway patrol to help secure the southern border.”

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 senators Thursday why they needed to approve the addition of $2 million for the mission.

“Just in case we have other disasters or other issues in the state where we need to call the guard out, we don’t want to get caught short,” Haug said. “We’re just asking for this as sort of a backstop to make sure we can respond to anything we need to in this state.”

The National Guard is being tasked with constructing barriers, while highway patrol members will be working alongside troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“I think we have folks working in the National Guard that we can send down and share those resources with the state of Texas, but you know we have a lot of things we need the highway patrol to do here in the state of Missouri,” Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said. “I would like to see those highway patrolmen working in the state of Missouri.”

Earlier this week during the House’s hearing, Rep. Deb Lavender, D-St. Louis, asked MSHP Col. Eric Olson how many troopers the agency is short. He responded by saying the department has 132 vacancies “among sworn personnel.”

“Our Missouri State Highway Patrol is understaffed; we know that we’re short in that bucket and this is going to cost us a lot of money when we are currently trying to fill these vacancies,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said.

Olson did reassure both the House and Senate committees that MSHP will be able to handle the southern border and Missouri. He explained how, out of the nine troop districts, the volunteers headed to Texas come from across the state.

“They are geographically spread out, so it won’t have an adverse effect on any one particular area of the state,” Olson said.

The spending plan still needs approval from the House and the Senate, representatives of which are expected to take up the legislation next week.

During the press conference last week, Parson said he’s concerned about how many people are coming across the border, blaming the high fentanyl deaths in the state on the lack of border control. In 2022, 43 Missouri children died from fentanyl exposure.

Eleven Missouri Highway Patrol troopers will have boots on the ground in Texas on March 1. During the mission, it’s possible that up to 22 troopers could be deployed. Haug told senators Thursday that the cost of sending MSHP down to the southern border has a price tag of $206,000.

The National Guard members will follow, with the first deployment to be active in Texas on March 10. According to the National Guard, there will be four rotations of 50 service members. The cost of the National Guard’s mission is estimated to be $2.17 million.

Missouri is joining 14 other states in deploying resources to the southern border. The mission is set to last 90 days, though it could be extended.

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