Gov. Susana Martinez not sending National Guard troops to border
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez does not plan to send National Guard troops to the border to assist Border Patrol in their efforts to deal with…
In this Jan. 17, 2012, photo, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez speaks in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A spokesman for Martinez said Monday that Republican governor does not plan to send National Guard troops to the border to help deal with the unaccompanied minors crisis. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez does not plan to send National Guard troops to the border to assist Border Patrol in their efforts to deal with the flood of unaccompanied minors and families crossing the United States border, standing in contrast with some of her Republican colleagues.
Spokesman Enrique Knell said in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday that Martinez does believe there is a role for the National Guard in protecting our border but that theres no immediate plan to deploy troops to the border.
SEE ALSO: Republicans fall in love with Gov. Susana Martinez
Kell also said Martinez disagreed with federal decisions made in 2008 and 2012 to stop funding programs that had National Guard troops at the border supporting Border Patrol agents with non-law enforcement duties.
President George W. Bush first ordered up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border from 2006 to 2008 to provide temporary assistance to border agents. By March 2012 the Obama administration reduced the number of National Guard troops on the border from 1,200 to 300, and the troops mission shifted from ground surveillance to aerial surveillance.
California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, also dont have plans to send National Guard troops to the border.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Monday he is sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the border. (Photo provided by Perry’s office)
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is the only governor from the Southwest region of the U.S. who has decided to send National Guard troops to the border. The Republican governor announced Monday that he is deploying up to 1,000 troops to the Texas-Mexico border, which will cost Texas an estimated $12 million a month.
The action I am ordering today will tackle this crisis head-on by multiplying our efforts to combat the cartel activity, human traffickers and individual criminals who threaten the safety of people across Texas and America, Perry said on Monday.
SEE ALSO: Gov. Rick Perry sending National Guard troops to Texas border
House Speaker John Boehner also believes National Guard troops should be sent to the Southwest border to help deal with the influx of unaccompanied minors coming across the U.S.-Mexico border. In a letter sent to President Barack Obama last month, Boehner called on the president to send troops to the border.
The National Guard is uniquely qualified to respond to such humanitarian crises, Boehner said in the letter. They are able to help deal with both the needs of these children and families as well as relieve the border patrol to focus on their primary duty of securing our border.
During his visit to Texas earlier this month, Obama said he and his administration were happy to consider how we could deploy National Guard to the border. However, he warned that sending troops to the border would only be a temporary solution and called on Congress to approve his request for $3.7 billion in emergency funds to deal with the unaccompanied minors crisis.
Meanwhile, immigration advocates like Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America say that adding more boots on the ground is a wrong approach to dealing with the influx of unaccompanied minors.
In an analysis published Monday, Isacson said that deploying additional National Guard troops to the border is highly inadvisable. He noted that the last deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the border in 2010 helped Border Patrol apprehend 25,514 migrants at a cost of $160 million or $6,271 for each person caught.
A National Guard deployment is neither a cost-effective nor an institutionally sound option, he said.
SEE ALSO: John Boehner: Obama is jeopardizing ability to solve border crisis
