AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahomans showed up Sunday to send National Guard troops off to the southern border. This is in response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's calls for reinforcements along the Texas-Mexico border.
On Sunday, friends and families gathered to send 50 soldiers off to their mission, according to KVUE's ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City, KOCO.
"This is an all volunteer," Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said. "We talked to our soldiers, and 50 of them raised their hand and wanted to go on this mission. I'm just so grateful for them and their service to our country and to our state."
This team will go to the border to help law enforcement there identify illegal activity, including things like the illegal flow of criminals, drugs and contraband crossing the southern border, according to a letter sent to Abbott by governors from across the nation.
The letter was sent by 13 Republican governors who answered Abbott's call to provide state resources to Texas to help respond to the crisis at the southern border.
“President Biden has abandoned his constitutional responsibility to secure the border and continues to fail to prevent millions of migrants from illegally crossing into our country. The illegal flow of criminals, drugs, and contraband moving across our border create an untenable situation for all states," the governors said in part. "In response, Republican governors are providing support where Biden failed. The personnel and resources from our states will enhance Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star security mission to deter and repel unlawful border crossings along the southern border."
The governors announced they would send 1,305 national guardsmen and 231 law enforcement personnel to supplement Operation Lone Star.
National Guard members say sendoffs like the one on Sunday are important.
"Without the families, we wouldn't be able to do what we do," National Guard Capt. Jayce Crowder said. "That's the unsung hero of the military, I believe."
Oklahoma Democrats believe sending these soldiers is the wrong move. One Democratic party chair said there are plenty of failures in the state of Oklahoma that should be addressed.
There's not an official date for the solders' departure, but they will head to El Paso sometime in August and be there for 30 days.