Texas to boost National Guard troop levels at border

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says his state will commit at least 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexico border in response to President Donald Trump's call.

The Republican Abbott says that the state will add around 300 Guard members a week.  The Texas National Guard said Friday that it would send an initial deployment of 250 members.

Abbott says there's no fixed date on their deployment and that "we may be in this for the long haul."  The governor says some Guard members may be armed if they are posted to locations where they could face danger.

But Abbott said he wanted to "downplay the notion" that the National Guard would be "trying to take on anybody that's coming across the border."

The move comes after Arizona announced that it has boosted the number of National Guard troops it will send to the Mexico border to 338 from 225 as part of President Donald Trump's plan for having the military help fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

The Arizona National Guard said in statement that 225 troops will be deployed to the border Monday and another 113 on Tuesday.

The statement came after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced that more troops would be sent Tuesday but did not specify how many.

The statement says the troops will help law enforcement agencies stem "the flow of trafficked people, criminals, narcotics, weapons, and ammunition trafficked in the state."

New Mexico has not yet deployed any National Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to President Donald Trump's call to use troops to fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking. It's not clear when they will head to the border.

California has not decided whether to send National Guard members to the border with Mexico to help President Donald Trump's deployment of troops to fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

The Associated Press