For those of you second-guessing, citing powers he could use as Governor, tell me this. Where are the other Governors? Why isn’t anyone else even addressing this problem.
If it turns out this is a useless exercise, I’ll be among the first to turn on Perry. Until then, I’ll wait and see how this plays out. Too easy to judge prematurely without the facts. There’s plenty of bad news out there without predicting more.
About a year ago I mailed virtually all the state governors on this issue (not HI and NY), the replies that I got back claimed that immigration was a federal issue (despite the fact that I clearly showed where their own state constitutions authorized state action) so my conclusion is that they are surrounded by liars who are effectively telling them that they are powerless on this issue. (Or, of course, that they are open borders and committed to the current state of affairs.
Let me repeat that: they are being told that they cannot act by their advisers [and likely lawyers].
When the National Guard was on the border in NM and AZ, they were allowed no ammo and were not to have contact with illegals. Most were running errands for Border Patrol and a few were driving around and in lookout towers acting as spotters for BP. If a governor calls up the guard as opposed to the state doing it, the state must pay. I imagine the governors of AZ and NM think it is a little pricey for theater.
I read an article a couple weeks ago that stated the only way the NG Perry is sending to the border could be fully armed- w/ammo and have power to detain/arrest illegals and not turn them over to feds is if the governor deputizes each one of them as Texas Rangers. Not sure if that is true but it was a reporter in Texas that wrote the article. So if he deputizes the NG as Texas Rangers then I will pay attention.