Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has announced he wants to send National Guard soldiers to Texas to support the efforts by Governor Greg Abbott, his fellow Republican, to combat illegal migration.
Landry revealed his intention during an interview with Fox News after visiting Eagle's Pass, near the Texas-Mexico border, on Sunday along with Abbott and 12 other GOP governors— a trip prompted by the row over a Supreme Court ruling that federal agents could remove razor wire placed along the border on Abbott's orders.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Landry said: "Texas has always been a great big brother to the state of Louisiana. They've always helped us in our time of need, and now it's time for Louisiana to reciprocate that.
"We're going to work with the legislative leadership. I was on the phone with them yesterday afternoon on my way back from Eagle Pass, to talk to them about finding the funding necessary to send National Guard troops down there to help Governor Abbott and the Texas National Guard to seal the border."
Senator Cameron Henry, the Republican president of the Louisiana State Senate, told local network KPLC 7 News that they are trying to work out funding for the scheme, which he estimated would cost around $3 million.
He said: "That's what we'll work towards funding, either during the special session on crime or the regular session. We'll also have to look and check to see whether or not the National Guard actually has that money in their budget now."
Louisiana has around 11,000 National Guard troops, most of whom also work civilian jobs from which they would be temporarily absent if sent to Texas.
Lt. Col. Noel Collins from the Louisiana National Guard commented: "Anytime that they would be called away for those missions, they need to inform their employers, and then they work with those employers to see how those conditions continue. Any reimbursement from the employers to the soldier, that's worked out with the individual company or agency, so that's not something we can necessarily speak to."
Tensions between Texan authorities and the Biden administration surged on January 22 when the Supreme Court ruled the wire could be cut down from the Texas-Mexico border.
This sparked a furious response from Abbott, who claimed Texas was being "invaded" and invoked the state's "constitutional authority to defend and protect itself." A joint statement signed by 25 other Republican governors was released supporting his decision, which stated: "Texas has a constitutional right to defend itself and the nation."
Donald Trump, frontrunner by some margin for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, called on other GOP governors to send National Guard troops to Texas in support of Abbott.
He said: "We encourage all willing States to deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border."
Speaking on Sunday, at a press conference from the southern border alongside the 13 other GOP governors, Abbott claimed President Biden had "completely abdicated and abandoned his responsibility to enforce the laws of the United States."
A bipartisan immigration and foreign aid bill negotiated in the Senate has been rejected by House Speaker Mike Johnson sparking a furious response from Democrats. The legislation included a virtual shutdown on asylum applications should migrant crossings average 5,000 per day over seven days, or 8,500 in a single day.
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
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