The Register Herald
Because it was such an unabashed political stunt coming at a time when its author is running for higher political office, it is fair to ask if Gov. Jim Justice’s campaign will be paying the $600,000 cost associated with sending 54 members of the state’s National Guard to support Operation Lone Star, a controversial border security program cooked up by Texas’ Republican governor.
Otherwise, West Virginia’s taxpayers are on the hook for that bill. Not that this state does not have other, more urgent priorities that could use that kind of cash. But there’s our self-serving governor, throwing our money around to advance his own agenda.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star to increase security along the Texas-Mexico border in March 2021, citing insufficient policies from the federal government to slow the flow of immigrants from illegally crossing into the United States. But it wasn’t long after Abbott sent the first wave of troops to patrol the border that the complaints from the Texas Guard starting rolling in. Not only did Guard command, on short notice, have to scramble to execute a large-scale and complex mission that typically would take months to plan and launch, rank and file soldiers told the Texas Tribune that the operation messed with their lot in life back home – hitting their income, delaying their education and toying with their general well-being.
Read the full article here.
