Once scheduled to leave in March, National Guard on border ‘indefinitely,’ Texas governor says
*Ninety percent of the population of the Rio Grande Valley, in Texas, is Latino. The area, in the Southern most tip of the U.S., has become a de facto police state. VL
MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) – On U.S. 83, the highway that hugs the southern stretch of the Texas-Mexico border, law enforcement is everywhere.
Even on a national holiday this week, the green-and-white trucks of the Border Patrol circled tirelessly around the empty streets of Rio Grande City, a hotspot for illegal border crossings. Texas state troopers pulled over vehicles, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter hovered above, keeping watch over the Rio Grande.
Less visible are hundreds of Texas National Guard troops who arrived last summer and are under new orders from Gov. Greg Abbott to remain indefinitely — probably at least through next year. But with migration numbers falling and the guard moving to remote outposts, local authorities and residents are questioning the troops’ continued presence here.
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[Photo by The National Guard/Flickr]