States pledged hundreds of troops and spent millions to help Texas at the border so far this year

Jul. 26—More than a dozen Republican governors gathered in Eagle Pass in February, heeding a call from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to confront what he labeled "President Joe Biden's border crisis."

The governors, along with other GOP state leaders, vowed to send another round of National Guard troops from their states to the Texas-Mexico border.

With shifts in pandemic-era federal border policies, there'd been a sharp increase in migrant encounters in the latter half of 2023. But then January saw a steep 50% drop.

Still, the governors told their constituents that they needed to send more people to assist Texas in fending off an "invasion," as both Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have called it, or fight drug smuggling. But the deployments have been widely criticized as political grandstanding — opportunities to take photos near personnel in uniform on the border while feeding nationalism and fear during an election year.

States Newsroom outlets across the country have tracked state deployments and expenses so far this year as part of a collaboration with Texas Tribune and Stateline to get a sense of what becomes of these promises, and what those deployments look and feel like at the border.

States generally chip in anywhere from five to 200 troops for deployments that can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to months. Typically, the funding comes from state budgets and state emergency funds.

The federal government also deploys thousands of National Guard members to the border year-round.

Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau who will retire Sept. 1, told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in mid-June that nearly 2,500 troops were serving at the southwest border under federal command. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, asked the general about the impact of this deployment on the guard's other duties.

"There is no military training value for what we do [on the border]," Hokanson said. "For our guardsmen there, they might as well be deployed to Kuwait or somewhere overseas, because they're away from their families. They're there doing mission sets that are not directly applicable to their military skill set. That time, I think, would be better utilized building readiness to deter our adversaries." — Marisa Demarco

Indiana is among states deploying troops to Texas.

Indiana's National Guard has estimated the cost of a 10-month, 50-member deployment at $7 million. The troops were called up under state active duty, meaning Indiana pays their salaries. That budget also covers transportation, supplies and maintenance.

Guard officials have said they will use existing appropriations in their budget for the costs.

Gov. Eric Holcomb made the move this year — his last in office. He didn't need legislative action. There has been little debate on the matter. Republican lawmakers issued supportive statements, and Democrats have been opposed.

Troops deployed in early April. That month, an Indiana guard member assigned to Operation Lone Star shot a migrant who was attacking another migrant, according to a U.S. Border Patrol bulletin.

"I am beyond thankful to this individual who potentially saved two lives by defending them and themselves. I'm reassured that the training that they got before they deployed and assumed this active duty on the southern border was beneficial," Holcomb told reporters on a Zoom.