(The Center Square) – Republican Gov. Mike Parson issued an executive order Tuesday declaring a state of emergency in Missouri to send members of the Missouri National Guard and Highway Patrol troopers to Texas.
Parson ordered 200 soldiers and 22 troopers and is requesting $2.3 million in a supplemental appropriation from the state legislature to fund the action. They will support Operation Lone Star, a mission executed by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Parson’s office stated approximately 10 million individuals have entered the U.S. illegally via the Texas-Mexico border. He repeatedly emphasized the immigrants are transporting fentanyl across the border with more than 460 million lethal doses of the drug. He criticized the White House and the media for attempting to mischaracterize the situation.
“I’m telling you they’re trying to put a spin that these are American people producing fentanyl and all of a sudden we’re starting to sell fentanyl and it’s not the illegals crossing the borders bringing that in there,” Parson said. “That’s the spin they’re trying to put on and I think that’s about as false as false can be.”
Parson said his recent trip to Texas to observe the situation and speak with Gov. Abbott was alarming. Parson is one of 25 Republican governors pledging support to Gov. Abbott.
“What you see down there now is wide open chaos,” Parson said. “I don’t know how to describe it. … My heart goes out to Gov. Abbott. I can’t imagine being the governor of that state and having to deal with what he’s having to deal with and the federal government totally turns its back on them.”
Parson repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden for his handling of the border. He said he’s discussed the situation with Missouri’s congressional delegation.
“There is no question that the President of the United States, when he first came into office, wanted to prove he had authority and the power and he opened the border,” Parson said. “I don’t think anybody had any idea what that meant.”
State Rep. Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, called Parson’s actions partisan politics.
“Governor Parson should call on the Missouri Republican delegation in Congress to end the political theater and pass this bipartisan border deal,” Aune said in a statement.
The U.S. House defeated a bipartisan border security bill earlier this month as former President Donald Trump reportedly pressured legislators to stop the bill.
“What I believed has happened is they’ve let this thing go way too far and now they’re trying to figure out, “How do we get out of this?’ by the spin they’re putting on all this stuff,” Parson said. “It’s pretty simple. Go back to the policies when this first started. Secure the border. You don’t have to call it the Trump policy. I get that.”
Guard members will be deployed on a 30-day rotation beginning March 10. Troopers, all volunteers, will be working alongside Texas law enforcement starting March 1.
Levon Compton, the adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard, said his members will be directed by the Texas National Guard and assist in the construction of physical barriers somewhere along the Texas-Mexico border.
