HOUSTON, Texas — Late last week Mexico’s foreign ministry vocalized strong opposition to the presence of the National Guard at the Texas-Mexico border amid the current border crisis.
A statement from the foreign ministry reportedly said that Mexico “reiterates, in a firm and categorical way, its rejection of this measure. No circumstance at all or change in border security exists that justifies this measure taken by the state.”
The statement further asserted that the National Guard’s being at the border “does not contribute in any way to solving the immigration problem,” according to the AFP.
Texas Governor Rick Perry deployed National Guard troops along the border after the federal government ignored Texas’ multiple requests for additional resources to help secure its border with Mexico.
Breitbart Texas Contributing Editor and border security expert Sylvia Longmire said that the ministry’s protest of the National Guard “hypocritical,” especially considering that “the Mexican government deployed its own army to deal with drug cartels eight years ago. That army also has a history of crossing over into U.S. territory over 300 times in the last 10 years–something the U.S. National Guard has never done.”
“Of course, the Mexican army isn’t defending its northern border from southbound floods of armed drug smugglers and illegal immigrants,” Longmire continued. “However, the Mexican government has the sovereign right to use a military solution to its criminal insurgency, and it has never had a problem declaring their sovereign rights. It’s almost insulting for Mexico to say it’s offended by the U.S. exerting its own sovereign right to deploy National Guard troops to the southwest border, regardless of what they’re being used for.”
The current border crisis involves tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central American countries entering the U.S. illegally. Since October 2013, almost 60,000 foreign minors have crossed the border.
In response to what has been called a “humanitarian crisis,” authorities have been ordered to transport all foreign minors to federal facilities while they wait to be processed. During their time in such housing units, the migrants receive many taxpayer-subsidized benefits including food, education, vocational training, education, English lessons, and even legal counsel.
Ultimately, most of the unaccompanied minors are released after promising to be in court at a later date for an immigration hearing–but many never show up.
The long term effects that the border crisis will have on American society is not fully known at this point. Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on the potential impact the foreign minors, all of whom are “entitled” to a taxpayer-funded education, could have on public schools.
A total of 30,340 unaccompanied minors–almost all of whom are from Central America–had been released to foster homes around the country as of July. Assuming that most of these children will not be immediately deported, U.S. public schools be will forced to accommodate them. Breitbart Texas previously reported that taxpayers in Texas alone are expected to spend more than $45 million educating the minors next year.
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.