New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) attended the deployment ceremony for two National Guard Military Police units being sent to the Texas border with Mexico. The MPs will have no law enforcement authority and will conduct command and control services along with border surveillance.
“New Hampshire is grateful for the heroic men and women of our National Guard,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) said in a written statement. “They answered the call to serve during the COVID pandemic, and are now answering our nation’s call — deploying to the ongoing humanitarian crisis along our southern border. As these brave men and women deploy, New Hampshire stands by our National Guard and we wish everyone a safe and speedy return home.”
The State is deploying two MP units to cover an area along the Texas border with Mexico that is approximately 250 miles long and ends at the Gulf of Mexico, the governor’s office stated.
The 941st Military Police Battalion HQ will deploy 44 soldiers to provide command and control of subordinate companies from New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Illinois, and Kentucky. Those units total about 500 soldiers, officials stated. It is the unit’s first deployment to the U.S. southern border.
In addition, approximately 120 members of the 237th Military Police Company will take up surveillance sites along the border. Their job will be to observe illegal activity along the border and report it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol. The soldiers are “prohibited from being in contact with illegal migrants,” the statement reads.
“A previous NH National Guard unit deployed to the southwest border from October 2020 through November 2021, which helped result in 207,320 assisted apprehensions, $893 million in illegal drug seizures, and 20 migrant lives saved,” New Hampshire officials stated.
It appears the units are being deployed under federal National Guard orders and not as part of Texas’ Operation Lone Star. The deployment is expected to last 12 months.
Breitbart Texas reached out to the offices of Governors Chris Sununu and Greg Abbott for additional information about the National Guard deployment. An immediate response was not available.