Outgoing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says the Texas National Guard will wind down a mission that sent 1,000 troops to the Texas-Mexico border come spring.
Dewhurst said Wednesday that a mix of additional state troopers and technology will replace the guardsmen that deployed to the Rio Grande Valley this summer. State leaders want to spend an extra $86 million to keep an elevated presence on the border through August.
Gov. Rick Perry had deployed National Guard troops to combat what he said were criminals exploiting a surge of children pouring into the U.S. illegally.
The number of unaccompanied children has since slowed dramatically. Dewhurst says that doesn't diminish the need for additional law enforcement.
A new Legislature in January could scrap the plan and plot a different course of action.
