Rick Perry hasn’t been exactly coy about his thoughts on the immigration crisis, but now he’s putting his (state's) money where his mouth is: He plans to announce today that he's sending up to 1,000 National Guard troops to shore up security along the Mexico border, reports the AP. A memo obtained on condition of anonymity by the Texas Monitor says that the troops will build up gradually, and will cost about $12 million a month. Perry’s spokesman is mum on the details of the reported initiative, but he tells the Washington Post that the Texas governor will elaborate on his plans at a press conference at 3pm Eastern.
If the reports are accurate, the National Guard will be working side by side with the Texas Department of Public Safety to keep tabs on the immigrants streaming across the border and cut down on the drug trade and human trafficking—an effort that’s already expected to run $1.3 million per week, says the Monitor. Over the weekend at an Iowa barbecue, notes the Post, Perry remarked, “If the federal government does not do its constitutional duty to secure the Southern border of the United States, the state of Texas will do it." He's attracted a critic in state Sen. Juan Hinojosa, a Democrat who says, "All these politicians coming down to [the] border—they don't care about solving the problem, they just want to make a political point." (More Rick Perry stories.)
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