LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen will once again deploy members of the Nebraska National Guard and Nebraska State Patrol to the southern border.
The mission is in response to a request for emergency assistance from Texas, the Governor’s Office said in a press release, and was made through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
A total of 35 Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen will be called up to active-duty status and sent to aid operations in the area of Eagle Pass, Texas, beginning in early April for 90 days.
Ten state troopers will be sent to the El Paso area for two weeks in mid-April, the Governor’s Office said.
Pillen said he decided to answer Texas’ call because “what happens along our nation’s southern border affects us right here in Nebraska,” putting the blame on President Joe Biden for what he described as “disastrous border policies.”
“I am extremely grateful to the soldiers, airmen and state troopers who volunteered for this important mission,” he said. “Their skills will help stem the tide of illegal immigration and keep deadly drugs off our streets.”
Pillen has made multiple visits to the Eagle Pass area to meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — including as recently as February — during which he has expressed his support for “Operation Lone Star.”
Last August, he appeared with several other governors, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, for a press conference last August. All are Republicans.
According to the Governor’s Office, the Omaha division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported an 83% increase in the number of fentanyl pills seized in 2023 compared to 2022, a figure Pillen attributed to a rise in border crossings.
Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, said the organization was ready to continue supporting Operation Lone Star.
“The Nebraska National Guard is always ready to respond when our fellow Americans are dealing with an emergency, whether it is here in our own backyard, in another state, or overseas,” Strong said.
Col. John Bolduc of the Nebraska State Patrol said sending state troopers to the border helps “keep American communities safe.”
“This deployment is a continuation of that support and an affirmation that when our law enforcement partners call for help, they can count on the Nebraska State Patrol,” Bolduc said.
While the cost of providing assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact typically has been paid by the requesting state, Nebraska has picked up its own tab sending members of the National Guard and State Patrol to the border in recent years.
Pillen last deployed 61 National Guard soldiers to the southern border between August and September 2023, at a cost of roughly $2 million, which came out of the state military department’s budget, while the cost of sending state troopers ran to nearly $600,000.
Former Gov. Pete Ricketts also sent 32 state troopers south to Texas in the summer of 2021 at a cost of $334,000.
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