Tennessee Governor Bill Lee joined a coalition of 12 other governors in traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday to participate in a border security briefing held by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The briefing, held at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, comes after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last month in favor of the Biden administration to allow Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal entries into the U.S.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, Abbott said his state will continue to carry out its “constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.”
Sunday’s briefing featured the coalition of governors detailing how the border crisis has impacted their states.
Lee, noting how the Biden Administration’s “open border experiment has catastrophically failed America,” announced during the briefing that Tennessee will deploy two waves of state active-duty soldiers to Texas to assist in the state’s efforts to secure its border with Mexico
“Republican governors have been sounding the alarm for a long time; the open border experiment has catastrophically failed America, and people across the nation are experiencing the devastating consequences of rising crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking,” Lee said. “This crisis will only become worse if immediate action isn’t taken. That’s why governors are working together to do what the federal government won’t do, and that is to secure our Nation’s southern border.”
The federal government’s open border experiment has catastrophically failed America, but TN continues to answer the important call to support TX with increased TN National Guard support.https://t.co/ExBhwWJKLy
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) February 4, 2024
The Tennessee Department of Military is currently coordinating with Texas to determine a timeline and areas of greatest need for the first wave of Tennessee National Guard members, according to Lee’s office.
The first wave of troops are expected to deploy to the border within sixty days, the governor’s office notes.
Tennessee has sent hundreds of soldiers to the southern border within the last three years.
More than 125 soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard’s 1175th Transportation Company are currently completing a year-long deployment at the border to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection by operating mobile surveillance sites for detecting illegal crossings and monitoring surveillance cameras.
The other governors present at Sunday’s briefing include Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
Lee’s announcement of additional Tennessee National Guard troops being deployed to Texas comes after he joined 24 other Republican governors in issuing a joint statement proclaiming support for Texas’ border security efforts amid the Supreme Court’s ruling.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photos by Brandon Hull / Gov. Bill Lee.
ask Lee about the 600 illegal immigrants which are supposedly being sent to middle Tennessee. I’d like to hear his opinion.
nothing but a photo op
Finally