Before disrupting the lives of about 100 Virginia National Guard members by sending them to Texas for a month, Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday got what he wanted out of the deployment: a photo op.
Standing with troops in uniform, the governor had his chance to play at commander-in-chief as he entertains the possibility of a White House run, in 2024 or in the future. Though he says he’s focused exclusively on Virginia, actions such as this suggest otherwise.
Deploying a handful of national guard members to Texas is nothing more than a cynical stunt. It will not improve conditions at the border. It will not address Virginia’s fentanyl crisis. And it shamefully uses these proud service members as a political prop.
Youngkin announced in May that he would send 100 members of the Virginia National Guard to Texas as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” mobilization at the southern border. Criticizing the “open border policies” of the Biden administration, Abbott first moved 10,000 Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guard troops to the area in 2021.
Abbott contends that the border surge has successfully curbed illegal crossings and slowed the smuggling of people and contraband into the United States. There is some evidence to that: Border crossings slowed in Texas but accelerated in neighboring states, and the Texas military agencies can point to fentanyl seizures stopped from reaching American streets.
However, the full picture of the troop deployment is far from clear and is, in many aspects, worrisome.
Last year, the Texas Tribune reported widespread dissatisfaction among troops involved in Operation Lone Star, with complaints ranging from the rapid speed of deployment and the lack of a comprehensive plan from Texas authorities. One in five reported problems with timely pay and the mission is rife with equipment needs. At least four soldiers tied to the operation have died of suicide.
But a key complaint from those deployed is that they have nothing to do. Only federal immigration agents are authorized to enforce immigration law. Operation Lone Star only empowers Texas troops to operate under disaster declarations and emergency orders to perform law enforcement duties, which primarily translates to making arrests for criminal trespassing and other minor infractions.
So as a result, Texas has taken thousands of citizen soldiers from their families and away from their jobs to cool their heels on the border doing precious little. Guard members watch the border but cannot make arrests, so their only job is to inform Border Control when they spot something.
“A lot of these issues could have been mitigated had leadership taken a step back and thought of the soldiers for a minute. They made this huge deal and rushed everybody out here, and all we’re doing is staring into nothing,” one guardsman told the Texas Tribune.
It also turns out that sending thousands of people to remote areas to do nothing is quite expensive. In January, the Houston Chronicle reported that Texas spent $4.4 billion to support the effort during its first two years, and state lawmakers are negotiating a package that could spend another $4.6 billion for border security there.
It’s little wonder that Abbott has pleaded with his fellow Republican governors to help by sending troops to offset Texas’ expense. At least 14 have complied so far, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sending the largest contingent. And now Youngkin has followed suit by pledging the lives of 100 Virginians and spending at least $3.1 million in public funds to do so.
Had the governor listened to the deployed Texas troops rather than his GOP buddies, he would know this is a haphazard, ineffective and expensive campaign that has effected no change in immigration policy and needlessly put Texas guard members at risk. All of this in a tawdry attempt to raise Youngkin’s standing among Republicans as being someone worthy of the White House.
Virginia can only hope the photo op was worth it.
