Utah governor sends law enforcement, Utah National Guard to Texas border

The U.S.- Mexico border. Photo: Unsplash // Barbara Zandoval

Requests for assistance from Texas to Utah came days after Gov. Spencer Cox visited the U.S.- Mexico border alongside 14 other governors

UTAH — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced today that he will send law enforcement and Utah National Guard members to the Texas border.

According to a press release, this deployment is in response to the Utah Department of Public Safety and Utah National Guard receiving Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) requests from their Texas counterparts.

The Utah National Guard will send five soldiers from the UTNG engineer battalion to the southern border on Feb. 26 where they will maintain military equipment. These soldiers will add to the over 226 Guard members that the Utah National Guard has sent to the border since 2018.

A sergeant and four troopers from the Utah Highway Patrol’s Criminal Interdiction Team, which investigates drug-related crimes, will also be deployed for 30 days.

The UHP estimates that the month-long deployment will cost approximately $100,000, and the two-week deployment of Utah National Guard members will cost approximately $50,000. These funds will come from the Governor’s Office Emergency Fund.

“Open borders threaten our national security and if the president and Congress won’t solve the influx of people and drugs, states have to step up,” Cox said. “Right now, Texas needs our help and we’re grateful to our National Guard members, state Troopers and their families for their willingness to serve and keep us safe.”

Utah has responded to several other EMAC deployments in recent years. Troopers and Utah National Guard members provided security at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016, and were sent to assist with the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.