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That assumes he\u2019ll win the gubernatorial race against Governor Greg Abbott in November, which he will not. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. Robert Francis \u201cBeto\u201d O\u2019Rourke said that he will keep National Guard members and Department of Public Safety officers on the border.<\/p>\n
Governor Abbott called up the National Guard to patrol the border and assist Border Patrol agents in the apprehension of illegal migrants. Then, when Operation Lone Star began, Abbott called Department of Public Safety officers to be added to the personnel working on the border. .The continuing flood of illegal migrants crossing over the Texas border because of the Biden border crisis calls for more, not less personnel and resources along the border. Even O\u2019Rourke recognizes that reality.<\/p>\n
Robert Francis was in Del Rio on Saturday campaigning at a dance hall. He was about 3 miles from the International Bridge that links Del Rio to Ciudad Acuna in Mexico. He wasn\u2019t bold enough to go all-in for border security, though. He said there must be a balance. Abbotts border enforcement efforts are \u201ctoo extreme, costly and ineffective.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d O\u2019Rourke said about keeping soldiers on the border. \u201cBut with all things, there has to be a balance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we don\u2019t need right now are stunts,\u201d O\u2019Rourke told about 300 people at a dance hall in Del Rio on Saturday \u2014 a message he repeated in earlier stops in both Laredo and Eagle Pass.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The press is happy to provide favorable coverage for the O\u2019Rourke campaign.<\/p>\n Just pulled into Del Rio, where @BetoORourke<\/a> is preparing to speak to a few hundred supporters pic.twitter.com\/VY2HEOr3Uo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) September 3, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n After explaining that there have been unprecedented border crossing surges since Biden took office, Del Rio used to have a low number of border crossings, but now it is the most frequently used crossing, mostly by Cubans and Venezuelans. \u201cOverall, since September, federal officials have reported almost 2 million encounters with migrants on the U.S. border, with 1 million in Texas alone.\u201d Then that reporter mentioned that Abbott isn\u2019t the first governor to put troops on the border. George W. Bush and Rick Perry both did it. They deployed National Guard troops on the border. Then he added that \u201cAbbott took it to another level with his Operation Lone Star.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, why would Abbott send 10,000 National Guard and DPS officers to the border, taking the deployment of troops to \u201canother level\u201d? Could it be because the Biden border crisis necessitated the surge of personnel? Yes. Yes, I think that\u2019s it. If only everyone could admit that Joe Biden\u2019s border crisis is intentional and to hell with border states like Texas and Arizona that are left with dealing with the humanitarian crisis along the border. That\u2019s expecting too much, especially in an election year.<\/p>\n O\u2019Rourke doesn\u2019t agree with the decision to build fences along private land. DPS arrest and jail illegal migrants who trespass. Abbott wants to demand that the federal government reimburse Texas for border expenses when Republicans take back the House in November. And Abbott is sending buses of illegal migrants to sanctuary cities. O\u2019Rourke doesn\u2019t approve of any of that<\/a>, either.<\/p>\n In speeches in Laredo, El Paso and Del Rio over the weekend, O\u2019Rourke blasted those decisions. He said the involuntary call-up of soldiers has scrambled the lives of guard members who didn\u2019t sign up for year-long deployments away from their families and jobs. He said many members of the guard sign up to serve during hurricanes and other natural disasters, not expecting such a longterm commitment.<\/p>\n O\u2019Rourke said if he beats Abbott in November, he\u2019ll still have soldiers and DPS on the border, working strategically with county officials along the Rio Grande, but with a more narrow mission. He said he would make deployment to the border voluntary, rather than mandatory for National Guard troops.<\/p>\n As for state troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, O\u2019Rourke said if individual counties along the border ask for help, he would send them, but that he would not do mass deployments as Abbott has done.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n O\u2019Rourke is straddling the fence, so to speak. He blasts Abbott for not getting the job done while acknowledging how hard and dangerous the work is for the troops on the border. National Guardsmen have been killed during Operation Lone Star because the cartels are in control of the border. That\u2019s the reason more law enforcement is needed, not less. Even a state the size of Texas has limited resources to handle the Biden border crisis.<\/p>\n\n
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