Missouri Senate sends National Guard border spending measure to governor (2024)

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Senate voted 30-2 Wednesday to bankroll Gov. Mike Parson’s decision to send National Guard troops and a contingent of highway patrol officers to aid Texas’ efforts to patrol the nation’s southern border.

The $2.2 million in funding, sought by Parson as part of a GOP effort to make immigration a key plank in the 2024 election, is the first installment in a $10 million plan to send 200 Missouri National Guard troops and a 22 Missouri Highway Patrol officers to the Lone Star State.

“These men and woman are just augmenting the operation that is ongoing on the Texas border,” said Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, who sponsored the measure.

The spending proposal is the first bill to win approval in both the House and Senate this year after months of futility on the part of the Republican majorities that control both chambers.

The governor is expected to sign the measure.

Democratic Sens. Brian Williams of University City and Lauren Arthur of Kansas City voted “no.”

Parson, a Republican, announced the plan in February after witnessing “the crisis” on a recent trip to Texas, placing blame on President Joe Biden for what he described as a “wide open” border.

Parson joined other Republican governors who said they would dip into taxpayer coffers to assist Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his election-year standoff with the federal government.

Last week, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Parson ally, led a contingent of officials to Texas to meet with highway patrol officers who have been deployed in the state since March. Kehoe is running to replace the term-limited Parson as governor.

“Until the Southern Border is secure, every state is a border state,” Kehoe said in a statement.

According to figures provided by the governor’s office, the Missouri National Guard troops have overseen the surrender of 624 undocumented migrants and the detention or return of another 68 migrants.

The highway patrol has participated in nearly 1,200 traffic stops and has provided assistance in the detention of 447 undocumented migrants, the administration said.

“We’ve seen illegal immigration cause problems in this state,” said Hough, who is running for lieutenant governor.

“I’m a big believer in securing our southern border,” said Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg. Hoskins is a candidate for secretary of state.

Despite election-year alarm bells about an immigration “crisis,” the number of migrants apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border dropped slightly in March.

Preliminary Customs and Border Protection figures show agents apprehended over 137,000 migrants, down from nearly 141,000 in February.

In February, U.S. House members shot down a bipartisan border security package after former President Donald Trump disapproved the proposed deal.

Under the plan, groups of National Guard members will be deployed roughly every 30 days. The mission is set to last through mid-June but it likely will be extended.

Missouri Highway Patrol troopers went to Texas March 1 to partner with Texas troopers, riding with them in their vehicles near the border and answering calls.

The National Guard already has a presence in Texas. There have been 250 Missouri National Guard members in the state for the past four years under federal orders.

Missouri National Guard Adjutant General Levon Cumpton previously said sending troops to Texas will not impact services back home. In all, there are 12,000 soldiers in the state.