Louisiana intends to send 150 National Guard troops to the southern border in Texas due to a lack of progress in Congress regarding a border deal.
Governor Jeff Landry made this announcement in Baton Rouge on Thursday, joining other Republican governors in expressing support for Texas by offering additional resources amidst the ongoing conflict with the Biden administration over border security.
“Because the federal government will not act, because the president will not do his job, because Congress refuses to put into place a solid immigration plan that protects this country and allows people to come in and out of this country the way it has been done since the beginning, then the states are going to act,” Landry stated.
“Dog-whistled those who are trying to enter the country illegally by saying, ‘Listen, if you swim across the Rio Grande we will let you in that way,'” he claimed the federal government has effectively done.
The anticipated $3 million cost of deploying Louisiana Guard personnel is expected to happen in March. The Republican-controlled legislature in the state still needs to approve the move.
Brig. Gen. Michael Greer, the chief of the Louisiana Military Department, stated on Thursday that troops stationed at the border would not have the right to hold migrants.
Apart from Louisiana, Florida has deployed approximately 1,000 National Guard members to the border. Governor Abbott of Texas is currently engaged in a legal dispute with the Biden administration regarding its actions to control the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States.
Republicans, meanwhile, have harshly slammed Biden for the increase in immigration to the United States.
