By Paul J. Weber
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott predicted Wednesday that Texas and 25 other states would keep prevailing against President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration but refused to put a deadline on when National Guard troops will leave the border with Mexico.
Flanked by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other top Texas conservatives to celebrate an early court victory against Obama’s deportation-relief program, Abbott shifted to defending his decision this week to indefinitely extend the Texas National Guard mission that began last summer.
About 200 guard members had been scheduled to leave the Rio Grande Valley next month, but Abbott now says an unspecified number will remain until Texas hires and trains hundreds of new state troopers to replace the guard.
He would not put a timeframe on how soon that could happen, but Texas Department of Public Safety leaders have said that getting started would take a year.
“It is our goal to ensure that only those who are authorized to cross the border, are the ones who are crossing the border,” Abbott said.
