Hundreds of Texas National Guardsmen participated in a swearing-in ceremony to allow them to enforce immigration law in partnership with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks posted a video on X showing hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers taking the oath of office. The commission empowers the guardsmen with Title 8 immigration authority to support Border Patrol agents along the Texas-Mexico border.
Earlier this month, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark first reported on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores. The MOU grants trained Texas National Guard soldiers the authority to perform roving patrols and “exercise all the duties of an immigration agent” as long as a Border Patrol agent or an immigration officer accompanies them. The memorandum requires one federal immigration officer or agent for every four guardsmen.
“The latest granting of immigration arrest authority adds at least 3,000 Texas Army National Guard soldiers to the number of ATF, FBI, and United States Deputy Marshals who are now assisting the Department of Homeland Security in enforcing federal immigration law,” Clark wrote.