Border Wars 2014: Border Union Doubts Rick Perry's Plan to Send National Guardsmen to Border, How Much Is It Costing Taxpayers?

There are plenty of doubts about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plan to place 1,000 National Guard Troops on the Texas border. It's a move he announced this week that's been met with a lot of scepticism, especially from a group representing border agents already working during the recent immigration crisis in south Texas. The worst part is probably that it's costing taxpayers about $12 million a month, accoring to an announcement Texas Adjutant General John Nichols made Monday. 

At an event to address border issues in Washington, D.C. on Wedneday, the National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd said National Guard troops coming into U.S.- Mexico border, and the recent immigration crisis, won't be prepared to handle enforcing U.S. border laws.

Troops would need additional training, which would include 21 weeks at police academy, Brandon said.

Putting the National Guard on the border would "open the federal government up to lawsuits galore."

"That's why we have the training that we have," said Brandon.

"We don't know yet exactly what they intend to do," Jeh Johnson, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said recently. 

As one report noticed, the Border Patrol might be open to the arrival of the guardsmen, since many of the duties border agents are filling include caring for the children -- many as young at 4 or 5 -- who cross into south Texas from Mexico and Central America.

"A Border Patrol union recently tweeted a gripe about 'diaper changing' and 'burrito wrapping', reported Fusion.net. "If the National Guard takes on some of those responsibilities, it would likely be welcomed by border agents, according to Stuart Harris, vice president of the Border Patrol union in El Paso, Texas," the website reported, quoting the union official, "If they are sent to relieve our agents of processing/daycare duties, then I would support having the troops there."

Others in Texas don't question Perry's recent decisions on border, so far, seeing it as a good thing.

"Texas has already seen results from Operation Strong Safety - from week 1 to week 3 of operations, apprehensions of illegal immigrants have dropped by 36 percent, from more than 6,600 per week to 4,200 per week in the area of operation," said Texas Rep. Dan Flynn in an Op-Ed article.