WESLACO, Texas (AP) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says more than half of roughly 1,400 National Guard members the state wants to put on the U.S.-Mexico border are already on the job.
Abbott said Thursday in the Texas border city of Weslaco that morale is high among troops. He spoke to reporters after a briefing with National Guard officers and Border Patrol agents.
The Republican defended President Donald Trump’s military deployment plan to fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Abbott says about 450 people each day are apprehended crossing the border in the Rio Grande Valley alone.
Abbott said 1,400 troops in Texas may be the final size of the operation but that the number could change “depending on circumstances on the ground.”
