Friday, August 8, 2014


In response to the surge of unaccompanied immigrant children that have crossed into the United States border in the past year, Texas governor Rick Perry has sent National Guard troops to the border. The implied purpose of this action is to protect the border and “fix” the current situation, however, I do not believe that Perry’s actions are going to change or fix any part of the current situation.  The National Guard has no business being at the border, and them being there in no way handles the main problem at hand, which is what to do with the children who are now stuck at the border waiting for their fate to be determined by the government. Perry’s actions are reflective of the fact that he does not have clear idea or thought of what to do to control the situation and make the people who voted for him happy. Sending the National Guard down to the border sounds productive and sounds like he is taking a firm stance on securing the border and proclaiming his anti-immigration view, but this is all his action does. It looks like a big action to citizens and, therefore makes him look like the only political player actively taking actions to try to solve the situation. Furthermore, not only is sending the National Guard to the border a waste of time and effort, but it is also a huge waste of money. $38 million dollars were spent to fund the deployment of these troops. These are millions of dollars that did not have to be used at all. I believe all Perry has done through this stint is spend $38 million to make himself look favorable to conservative citizens without a single well thought out solution to the border crisis in mind.

1 comment:

Gabriela Rodriguez said...

1000 National Guard troops have been sent to help secure the southern border of the Rio Grande section where the traffic of illegal immigration is at it's highest. Tens of thousands of unattended illegal immigrant children are found at these borders between Texas and Mexico causing a high end immigration downfall on the state of Texas. In reading a colleague's blog The Texas Talk, they state that the National Guard has no business being at our border. I believe that is false. The issue at hand is in dire need of attention that is out of the state's hand. Yes, Texas is a very independent state, but this is an issue of the United States of America and the immigration crisis that will effect American citizens through taxes taken in aid to house and jail all these immigrants.


Currently there are 3000 border control officers that patrol the border and this is obviously not enough. As Rick Perry stated, "You cannot have national security without border security" meaning that this matter is at such a volume that the state alone should not have to face and be responsible. I do feel that Texas should not have to fund this protection and that with the promise of "national security" should come "national funds".