WASHINGTON – Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Monday announced that next month he will deploy 1,000 National Guard soldiers along the border with Mexico to deal with the avalanche of immigrant children who are arriving from Central America.At a press conference in Austin, Perry justified his decision by citing the consequences of the child migrants’ arrival, as well as the fact that criminal bands are taking advantage of the Border Patrol’s focus on dealing with the children to increase their drug and people trafficking activities.
“I will not stand idly by. The price of inaction is too high,” the Republican governor said.
Perry’s name has reappeared on the national scene after the child immigration crisis broke and many speculate that he is considering another presidential run in 2016 after his failed bid for the Republican nomination in 2012.
Congressional Republicans in recent weeks have emphasized to President Barack Obama the need to strengthen security on the border to prevent the massive arrival of the children.
Bolstering border security is not part of the $3.7 billion plan to deal with the crisis proposed by the president.
Conservatives are reluctant to approve such a large emergency funding package to deal with the problem and even less inclined to do so when the plan, in their judgment, does not include a sufficient amount of border security reinforcement.
Perry, who has dubbed his measure “Operation Strong Safety,” also has asked Obama and Congress to hire an additional 3,000 Border Patrol agents in Texas.
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