Iowa GOP governor to send about 100 state National Guard troops to US-Mexico border, doesn’t specify duties

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — About 100 Iowa National Guard troops and 30 public safety officers will be sent to the U.S. border with Mexico, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday.

The Republican said the National Guard troops would be deployed for 30 days in August and the Department of Public Safety officers would be assigned for 30 days in September.

Reynolds didn’t specify what the Iowa deployment would do in Texas but she said they were needed due to an “open border” that she blamed on a “dereliction of duty” by Democratic President Joe Biden.

Reynolds said that last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave her and other Republican governors a briefing about the border.

In 2021, Reynolds sent nearly 30 Iowa State Patrol troopers to Texas to patrol the border.

Asked about how the deployment would be funded, Kollin Crompton, Reynolds’ deputy communications director, said, “We are in touch with Texas officials and still working out operational details at this time.”