Missouri – A plan from the governor to use National Guard members at the southern border of the country just got its first green light.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced the plan last week
Last week, Governor Mike Parson announced he’s sending 200 people from the Missouri National Guard and 20 from the Missouri State Highway Patrol to the border between Texas and Mexico. He mentioned planning to send these troops as early as Friday. Both President Joe Biden and the former president, Donald Trump, are also planning to visit the border this week, at the same time.
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He asked for $2.2 million from the state’s budget to help with the border situation. This request came after his trip to the southern border with other Republican governors, where they learned firsthand about Operation Lone Star from the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. Operation Lone Star is Texas’s effort to lessen the number of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. from Mexico.
The initial approval
On Wednesday morning, the committee in charge of the Missouri House’s budget said yes to the money the governor asked for.
“After I, along with many other members of the General Assembly, called for the Governor to help Texas with the border crisis, Governor Parson responded. He is sending National Guard and MSHP members to assist. This morning our Budget Committee passed the budget needed to help defend our border,” Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs) said in a post on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
From the total $2.2 million, $206,757 is earmarked for the Missouri State Highway Patrol to cover costs for staff and gear, as mentioned in the bill. The governor has pointed out that these troopers are joining on their own will, with two coming from the central part of Missouri’s Troop F.
Most of the money will be used for the Missouri National Guard members
The biggest part of the money, $2 million, is set aside for the Missouri National Guard members who are being sent to the border. This part of the budget still needs the go-ahead from the entire House before moving to the Missouri Senate for final approval. Up to now, it hasn’t been scheduled for discussion in the House.
Border issues are turning into a major point of discussion for the upcoming elections. When Lucas Kunce, a Democrat running for Senator Josh Hawley’s position, officially entered the race, he criticized his opponent’s stance and actions regarding the border situation.
“Republicans, like Josh Hawley, tied a border deal to aid in Ukraine, and then when they got the deal that they said that they wanted to actually do something at the border, they all backed off because they were like, ‘Oh no, for us, it’s politically better to not solve this problem.'” Kunce said. “We need to get politicians who are just in to ‘politic’ out of office.”
Hawley blames the Democrats for the border problems. Kunce believes Congress should tackle border policy, but Hawley argues that it’s up to the president to change his border policies.
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“Now we see where those policies get us, is because of them that the border is open,” Hawley said. “We don’t have a wall because Joe Biden canceled it. We don’t have asylum that’s working properly because Joe Biden has thrown it completely open.”
