Texas National Guard Arrives in Del Rio Sector

Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio Sector welcomed advance planning teams of the Texas National Guard as part of Operation Guardian Support.

“The U.S. Border Patrol remains steadfast in our commitment to gain operational control of our borders and the deployment of National Guard personnel will move us rapidly forward on that commitment,” Chief Patrol Agent Felix Chavez said in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas.

Officials said that Operation Guardian Support is designed to increase deterrence and border security capabilities. The guardsmen will work alongside Border Patrol agents to carry out administrative and support functions to free agents to patrol the borders.

“With the National Guard providing this much-needed support in the Del Rio Sector area of operations, Border Patrol agents will be free to concentrate on border enforcement,” officials stated. “Operation Guardian Support will enable Del Rio Sector to impede and deny illegal border crossings, maintain situational awareness, and apply the appropriate time-bound response and law enforcement resolution to increase security and achieve operational control of our Nation’s borders.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that approximately 1,400 will be deployed over the next couple of weeks to assist Border Patrol agents in securing the state’s border with Mexico.

The governor traveled to the Rio Grande Valley Sector last week to receive a security briefing and speak to the guardsmen who had already arrived in that sector.

“The security of our southern border is a top priority, and Texas has stepped up to answer the call,” Governor Abbott told the guardsmen in Weslaco, Texas. “The addition of National Guard troops to aid Customs and Border Patrol will serve to strengthen border security, and their presence will make a meaningful difference.”

President Trump’s call for troop deployments followed a report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that revealed a 203 percent increase over the previous year in the apprehension of illegal border crossers during the month of March.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey also visited his state’s guardsmen who deployed last week, Breitbart Texas reported. Ducey told reporters, “Our border is not secure.”

“We’re working to save lives threatened by the hands of cartel members or by drug addiction — and the lives of those trying to cross Arizona’s unforgiving desert landscape,” the Arizona governor explained. “States such as Arizona have stepped up when Washington has failed and spent tens of millions of our state’s taxpayer dollars to supplement the great work of an understaffed Customs and Border Protection.”