Ian Patrick, FISM News
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Whether or not the Biden administration will directly admit to the chaos at the southwestern border, it appears that the federal government will be keeping already-stationed troops in the area for another year to aid in the situation.
The Military Times, citing a Pentagon spokesman, said that the Department of Defense has extended its National Guard presence at the southwestern border for another year until at least the summer of 2023. Military Times notes that this spokesman was not authorized to speak about this update.
According to the report, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed a request from the Department of Homeland Security to extend this mission through Fiscal Year 2023. The request was reportedly sent in September of this year.
This approval allows for 2,500 National Guard troops to remain deployed in the area. The spokesman said there are currently 2,708 National Guard members at the border, but this is just a reflection of “overlap as units and personnel swap out during the month of October.”
The mission to the border is meant “to support Customs and Border Protection with surveillance, intelligence, and aviation support,” Military Times wrote.
The National Guard mission began in 2018 under President Donald Trump, who later turned it into a national emergency declaration for the border. President Biden nixed the emergency declaration after he assumed the presidency, but federal support has still been coveted and sometimes provided.
In fact, this extension will mark the fourth year of the National Guard border mission.
Texas National Guard leads ‘Operation Lone Star’
Beyond federal help, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has lauded the multi-agency effort to secure the border under the name of Operation Lone Star. In a press release on Friday, Abbott detailed what the operation has accomplished thus far:
Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 319,000 migrant apprehensions and more than 21,000 criminal arrests, with more than 18,700 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 346 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission. Texas has also bused over 8,200 migrants to our nation’s capital since April, over 3,400 migrants to New York City since August 5, and more than 1,100 migrants to Chicago since August 31. The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.
Abbott also listed some specific goals completed by the Texas National Guard. First, the Guard expanded its border response in order to stop illegal border crossings in the El Paso region. Second, the Guard “cleared 1.5 acres of dense overgrowth on land near the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley campus that was known for criminal activity and illegal river crossings.”