A group of National Guard troops from Texas , based along the U.S. Southern border with Mexico , have joined a union. The group, assig...
A group of National Guard troops from Texas, based along the U.S. Southern border with Mexico, have joined a union.
The group, assigned to the U.S.-Mexico border for Operation Lone Star, are the first-known troops to organize while on active-duty status. They will join the Texas State Employees Union's Military Caucus.
The soldiers involved in Operation Lone Star have been plagued with well-documented problems involving living conditions, equipment and pay, according to the Army Times.
Their unionization comes after a recent filing by the Justice Department that allows for troops with the Guard to join; their first union meeting is scheduled for next week.
A federal law that had previously prohibited members of the military from organizing unions 'does not apply to Guard members on state active duty or in the Inactive National Guard,' DOJ lawyers wrote in a court filing last month.
National Guard troops in Texas are legally organizing and forming unions while serving on state active duty orders. Pictured, National Guardsmen stands watch over a fence near the International bridge in Del Rio, Texas
The National Guard troops will join the Texas State Employees Union's Military Caucus
'We're hoping to improve all [those] things,' said the soldier leading organizing efforts under the union known as the Texas State Employees Union's Military Caucus.
The soldier did not give is name, requesting anonymity over fears of retaliation from Texas Military Department leadership ahead of the meeting.
Those in the union consist entirely of troops on state active duty orders assigned to the border.
Military Department officials in Texas say the problems the troops faces were 'unavoidable' and that measures have been taken to improve conditions for those working the mission.
Usually, Guard troops only go on state active duty for short periods of time such as after a disaster or civil disturbance but Texas' National Guard’s Operation Lone Star, includes up to 10,000 members of the Texas Military Department who are mobilized on year-long orders
One of the soldiers who is organizing efforts is also hoping that Texas Guard leaders will be able to be more open about end-of-mission requests for involuntarily activated troops who want to go home.
The group are a small subset of full-time Guard troops who are dual-status technicians who also already unionized in their civilian capacity as federal employees.
Usually, state active-duty missions are those in which members of the Guard are temporarily state employees instead of members of the federal military.
Because the missions are short stints, often at times of disasters, it is not practical for unions to be organized.
But the mission in Texas may be worthy of an exception because of the large scale and apparent long-term nature of the mission at the border.
Operation Lone Star was created by Texas Governor Greg Abbott amid a wave of illegal immigrants from Central America crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. It deploys law enforcement in areas human and drug smugglers are known to use.
A National Guardsman directs migrants into a line who just crossed the Rio Grande into the United States in Roma, Texas on last July
Nearly 1.7 million people were encountered trying to cross the U.S. Southern border in the 12-month period that ended in October, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said. Pictured, families cross the Rio Bravo river illegally to surrender to the American authorities at the border of Mexico's Ciudad Juarez with El Paso, Texas, last December
A National Guardsman gurds entry gate to the area under the Del Rio-Ciudad International Bridge
Unveiled in March 2021, Abbott said he would deploy thousands of Texas Department of Public Safety officers and Texas National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border amid a sharp increase in immigrants crossing from Mexico illegally or seeking asylum.
Nearly 1.7 million people were encountered trying to cross the U.S. Southern border in the 12-month period that ended in October, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.
The record-shattering number of migrants has overwhelmed state and local officials who have been pleading for help from the Biden administration and spurred further concern over the spread of COVID-19.
Operation Lone Star was created by Texas Governor Greg Abbott amidst a wave of illegal immigrants from Central America crossing the US-Mexico border
Abbott's press secretary has claimed the Lone Star State was forced to 'step up' to secure the border while Biden's government was 'absent.'
'Texas continues stepping up to secure our southern border and protect Texans in the federal government's absence,' Renae Eze said.
'Since Governor Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March, the National Guard and DPS have apprehended over 76,000 migrants and arrested over 8,800 who committed a state or federal crime, including smugglers and human traffickers, to crack down on illegal crossings of migrants coming from over 150 countries around the world.'
Border encounters hit a 21-year high in July 2021, with 213,593 people intercepted by immigration officials.
Though the number has gone down somewhat to 178,840 in December, it's still significantly higher than the roughly 40,000 migrants encountered during the same period in 2020.
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