Tag: Gov. Rick Perry
National Guard Troops in Texas Fight Boredom, Not Illegal Immigration, So Far
National Guard troops continue to arrive in Texas on the orders of Gov. Rick Perry to help crackdown on the border crisis, but so far, there's not much for them to do, the Washington Post reports.
The troops, who are wearing body armor and carrying pistols, were spotted fighting boredom as their role continues to confuse federal law enforcement.
"The music keeps me up," said one soldier listening to R&B. "We're keeping our eyes on the brush."
So far, Border Patrol units have stood watch, usually watching over the river.
To date, about 400 of the anticipated 1,000 guardsman have arrived.
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Posted: September 3rd, 2014 under News Story.
Tags: Border, Gov. Rick Perry, National Guard, rio grande, Texas
Under Gov. Perry, Texas Creates Own Version of Border Patrol with Game Wardens
Tex. Gov. Rick Perry/official photo
The primary responsibility of Texas game wardens used to be pretty routine – crack down on drunken boaters and investigate fishing tournament cheaters.
Now a team of them is patrolling the Rio Grande in search of suspected smugglers and undocumented immigrants, trading in their white cowboy hats for camouflage, the New York Times reports.
It's part of Gov. Rick Perry's effort to create his own version of the Border Patrol along the state's 1,200-mile border.
State officials say the effort has paid off, netting thousands of arrests and tens of millions of dollars in drug seizures.
Critics argue that Perry is exaggerating the problem and wasting public resources.
"It's not something the federal government has asked him to do," said Veronica Escobar, El Paso's county judge. "It is such a waste of taxpayer resources, especially when so many fundamental needs are underfunded by the very state leadership that proposes and promotes this waste."
Posted: August 7th, 2014 under News Story.
Tags: Border Patrol, game wardens, Gov. Rick Perry, Illegal Immigrants, rio grande, smugglers, Texas
Texas Gov. Rick Perry Said Humanitarian Crisis at Mexico Border is 'Side Issue'
The crippling influx of migrant children escaping violence in Central America is a "side issue" to tackling the wave of crime from undocumented immigrants, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday.
While most politicians in Washington expressed concerns about the 62,000 unaccompanied minors crossing the border, Perry said he is "substantially more concerned about" the criminals coming into the state.
"That's the real issue here, and one that all too often gets deflected by the conversation about unaccompanied minor children," Perry said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
Perry said last week that he plans to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops to "combat" crime.
"We'll continue to do what we have to do to keep our citizens safe," he said.
Tags: border crisis, Gov. Rick Perry, illegal immigration, National Guard, unaccompanied children
Editorial: Extending Arrest Power to Guard Troops Is Unnecessary
By Editorial Board
Beaumont Enterprise
If there's anything worse than Gov. Rick Perry sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border to boost his presidential hopes, it's Sen. Ted Cruz calling for them to have federal arrest powers – to boost his presidential hopes.
That's a bad idea, and someone like Cruz who says he's a strict constitutionalist should know that. Members of the National Guard and regular military have long been restricted by U.S. laws and customs from these kinds of police duties. Their job is to fight wars. If they are deployed domestically, invariably it's in response to a natural disaster.
Guard troops have no training in arresting or detaining illegal immigrants. While that's not an extremely complicated practice, it's also not something you just start doing on a whim. There's no reason this task can't be handled by law enforcement or Border Patrol agents, who already know what they're doing.
Texans should not be misled by these political stunts. Perry called out the National Guard to impress the people of Iowa and New Hampshire as much as those in Texas. Now Cruz realizes that he has to ratchet up the noise to keep pace with his rival in Texas.
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Posted: July 28th, 2014 under News Story.
Tags: Gov. Rick Perry, National Guard, Rep. Ted Cruz, us-mexico border
Texas Gov. Perry to President Obama: Send in 1,000 National Guard Troops to Avert Immigration Crisis
Gov. Rick Perry urged President Obama to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to southern Texas in a show of force designed to dissuade more Central Americans from crossing the Mexican border the American-Statesman reports.
Perry said the solution should not be spending an additional $3.7 billion in taxes to address the crisis.
"Pick up the phone, be a leader, make a difference," Perry said on "Fox News Sunday."
Perry said the problem could have been avoided had Obama heeded the governor's warnings about the influx in May 2012.
"I gave the President a head's up on what was happening with these unaccompanied children, these alien children who were coming in on the tops of trains," Perry told "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer. "And we laid out exactly what we felt was going to happen if we didn't address that, and now we're seeing that become reality with literally tens of thousands of these young children, making this long, arduous, very dangerous trip, being separated from their parents, and it could have been stopped years ago, had the administration listened, had the administration been focused on the border with Texas."
Tags: Gov. Rick Perry, immigration crisis, National Guard, President Obama, unaccompanied children
FBI Elevates Murder Investigation of two District Attorneys in Texas, Launches Billboard Campaign
The FBI has launched a public relations campaign to catch the killer or killers of two district attorneys and one of their wives, the Houston Chronicle reports.
Gov. Rick Perry and Kaufman County Crime Stoppers chipped in $200,000 for a reward for the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for killing Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and Assistant District Attorney mark Hasse.
The FBI also is posting information about the murders on billboards throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi.
"Words cannot describe the shock and grief this community has suffered over the last several months," Perry said in a press release. "The criminals responsible for these murders will be caught, convicted and will pay the price for these horrific crimes."
Both prosecutors were killed this year, and authorities are investigating possible ties between the killings and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a prison gang.
Posted: April 5th, 2013 under FBI, News Story.
Tags: Aryan Brotherhood, Gov. Rick Perry, Kaufman County Crime Stoppers, Kaufman County District Attorney, murders
Obama Administration Announces Modest Steps to Deal With U.S.-Mexico Border Trouble
As expected, the Obama administration is taking steps to beef up security along the Mexican border. But the announcement falls short for Tex. Gov. Rick Perry, which should count for something since his state has had to deal with a whole lot of trouble.
By TODD J. GILLMAN
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration announced modest steps this morning to beef up border security and help Mexico fight its drug cartels.
But Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the president isn't ready to grant Texas' request for a troop surge to ward off spillover violence.
"There's already a very, very heavy federal presence. We add to it, we target, we dedicate," Napolitano said at the White House, adding that she will meet with Gov. Rick Perry in Texas on Thursday to press for details on his call for 1,000 soldiers or border agents.
The drug war has killed more than 7,000 Mexicans in the last 15 months, and Perry and other border officials have expressed concern that the violence is getting worse and could threaten more Americans.
Perry expressed disappointment, saying the state and its taxpayers have had to "fill in the gaps" because the federal presence isn't enough.
For Full Story
Posted: March 24th, 2009 under News Story.
Tags: Border, Gov. Rick Perry, Mexico, Obama, security