The National Guard troops heading to the southern Texas border will send a message about the significance of the problem posed by the surge of illegal immigrant children crossing into the United States, Rep. Kristi Noem told "Fox & Friends."
Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry announced Monday that he was mobilizing 1,000 National Guard troops to aid Border Patrol agents in securing the border against the influx of thousands of illegal immigrants. Noem said Texas should not have had to make the move because "that border is really the responsibility of the federal government."
"It certainly says that Texas realizes this is a problem — that all the people across the country who've been watching this situation unfold realize that it's a big problem with having these unaccompanied minors in our country," the South Dakota Republican said Tuesday.
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President Barack Obama needs to take the lead in securing the border and seeing that the minors entering the United States illegally are returned home.
"The fact that the state of Texas has stepped up and had to secure it themselves is really unfortunate for them financially, and the fact that it's the president's role," she said. "Our president just needs to make a decision, follow our laws, and then go down there and take care of our country and get the children back to their families."
The illegal immigrant children, many unaccompanied by adults, are primarily from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala in Central America. Noem said the role of the United States is to "take care of them" and "send them home."
High numbers of children are coming to America because parents in Central America have gotten a "clear message" that the United States doesn't "enforce and secure our borders," Noem said, adding that lawmakers have to "recognize that we have laws, and we want people to go through the process legally."
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