AP
The border in Texas has already seen a surge of troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety who are combatting human trafficking and drug smuggling in the reason amid an influx of immigrants coming from Central America. News of the troop deployments was first reported by The Monitor, which said they would be announced Monday and would cost about $12 million per month. A source with knowledge of the announcement confirmed to Business Insider Perry will announce Monday he is activating up to 1,000 National Guard troops to deal with what the source described as "the ongoing border security crisis."
Perry's decision to bring the National Guard to the border has drawn some criticism from his political opponents. Democratic Texas State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa told The Monitor Perry's move was an attempt to score a "political point." Hinojosa also suggested the National Guard was not equipped to to address the influx of immigrants.
"Our local law enforcement from the sheriff's offices of the different counties to the different police departments are taking care of the situation," said Hinojosa. "This is a civil matter, not a military matter. What we need is more resources to hire more deputies, hire more Border Patrol."
The Monitor obtained a memo it described as coming from "another state official's office" that said the troop deployment was "not a militarization of the border."
"The DPS and the National Guard are working to keep any drug and human trafficking south of (U.S. Highway) 83 and with the goal of keeping any smuggling from entering major highways to transport East/West/and North," the memo said.
According to the memo, funding for the deployment would come from "non critical" areas of the state budget.