Via Statesman:
The federal government will send $2.3 million to the Texas National Guard this year as part of
a four-state border security preparedness program, Lt. Col. Travis Walters said Monday.
Washington will also take control over the 100 guardsmen stationed along the Texas-Mexico border who had been sent there as part of the state’s border security campaign. (Depending on their mission, National Guard units take orders from either the president or the governor.)
Gov. Greg Abbott framed the news as a sign that the federal government is finally recognizing Texas’ role in handling a surge in asylum-seeking immigrants from violence-stricken Central American countries that began in the summer of 2014 and overwhelmed immigration authorities.
“The taxpayers of Texas have funded border security, a federal responsibility, for far too long,” Abbott said in a statement. “I am grateful that the federal government and Congressional appropriators are stepping up and dedicating additional resources to provide for the safety and security of all Texans.”
The $2.3 million in funding, however, will pay for Texas National Guard activities going forward and will not reimburse the state for the $2.8 billion it has spent on its unprecedented state-level border security campaign.
State lawmakers this year approved another $800 million in funding for 2018 and 2019.http://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/washington-send-texas-national-guard-for-border-security/SSMPYVQPfF6AIh8nVxoHWP/
