Guard’s border deployment could cost North Dakota taxpayers $2.2 million

BISMARCK — Gov.

Doug Burgum

will send about

100 members of the North Dakota National Guard to the southern border

, a deployment that could cost the state $2.2 million.

Burgum, a Republican who’s running for president, signed an executive order on Tuesday, June 13, that authorizes the deployment to the Texas-Mexico border for 30 days ending in August. The order declared the situation, dubbed Operation Lone Star, an emergency, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

On June 1, Burgum joined a group of more than a dozen Republican governors by announcing his plans to send Guard members to the southern border at the request of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott said his state needs additional troops and resources to secure the border and combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Burgum has fulfilled federal requests in the past to send the North Dakota National Guard to the southern border. However, this is the first time the Guard has been sent to the border on state orders, Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki said.

That means North Dakota taxpayer money would be used to cover the $2.2 million cost. The North Dakota Emergency Commission must authorize the spending, Nowatzki said. The Emergency Commission’s members are Burgum, Secretary of State Michael Howe and four state legislative leaders.

The troops being sent to the border are from the Wahpeton-based 188th Engineer Co. About 125 National Guard members from the 1st Battalion, 112th Aviation Regiment are at the border, the governor’s office said.

“It’s in the best interests of not only Texas but all states to prevent illegal entry at the U.S.-Mexico border and stop drug trafficking, human trafficking and other transnational criminal activity,” Burgum said in a statement. “Support from the North Dakota National Guard and other states that have committed resources to Operation Lone Star will strengthen border security and help keep Americans safe in every state, as every community is affected by border security.”

Texas Gov. Abbott has been critical of U.S. President Joe Biden’s handling of security at the border, saying the Democratic commander-in-chief has done little to address what some have called a crisis.

“If the White House won’t address this crisis, governors will, and we commend Gov. Abbott for taking the lead in the absence of federal action,” Burgum said in a previous statement.

Biden announced in May that he would send 1,500 troops to the border for 90 days, in addition to the 2,500 already stationed there, according to news reports. The 1,500 are not authorized to make arrests or use force outside of self-defense, news reports said.

Abbott said in a tweet that Biden was deploying the troops “primarily to do paperwork.” The governor said he has deployed up to 10,000 Texas National Guard members in Operation Lone Star.

South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and Florida also have announced deployments.

April Baumgarten joined The Forum in February 2019 as an investigative reporter. She grew up on a ranch 10 miles southeast of Belfield, N.D., where her family raises Hereford cattle. She double majored in communications and history/political science at the University of Jamestown, N.D.