Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced that he will be sending the state’s National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas after receiving aid requests from the state.
In a press release published Friday, the governor’s office announced that five soldiers from the Utah National Guard engineer battalion will be sent to maintain equipment on the southern border, while additional personnel from the Utah Highway Patrol’s Criminal Interdiction Team will be sent to assist in illicit drug investigations, beginning on February 26. One Sergeant and four Troopers from the state’s Highway Patrol are expected to deploy to Texas for 30 days.
“Open borders threaten our national security,” Governor Cox shared in the press release. The governor added that if the federal government “won’t solve the influx of people and drugs, states have to step up.”
“Right now, Texas needs our help and we’re grateful to our National Guard members, state Troopers, and their families for their willingness to serve and keep us safe,” he concluded.
The governor’s office estimates that the two-week deployment of state National Guard members will cost approximately $50,000, while the 30-day deployment of Highway Patrol personnel will cost an estimated $100,000. “Funding will come from the Governor’s Office Emergency Fund,” the press release assured state residents.
Utah National Guard has deployed 226 service members to the U.S.-Mexico border on various missions since 2018, while states like Florida have deployed more than 1,000 National Guardsmen to assist Texas along the southern border.
In January, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the state would be deploying approximately 1,000 National Guard members to the southern border, and noted that since 2021, Florida has sent “direct law enforcement and military assistance to Texas,” and has “made contact with nearly 150,000 illegal aliens, conducted over 27,000 traffic stops, resulting in 2,102 Human Smuggling or Human Trafficking charges wit h2,278 overall arrests.” The state has additionally supplied 540 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission personnel, 525 four-wheel drive patrol trucks, and 24 water vessels to Texas to utilize in securing the southern border.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
