At least seventeen members of Texas’ National Guard have perished while securing the US-Mexico border, according to information revealed during an August 20 meeting of the state’s House Committee on Defense and Veterans’ Affairs. The update came from Shelia Bailey Taylor, director of state administration for the Texas Military Department, who was discussing a newly passed law that will provide $500,000 to families of fallen service members deployed under Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border mission.
The law was inspired by the death of Guardsman Bishop Evans, who drowned in April 2022 after jumping into the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and saving a pair of migrants attempting to enter the country unlawfully. Despite his heroic actions, Evans sadly succumbed to the currents while trying to save others.
While many have focused on Evans’ tragic death, it should be noted that not all of the seventeen National Guard members died directly as a result of their duties at the border. At least five of these deaths were reportedly suicides, with other causes of death including a motorcycle crash and a fatal medical emergency at a hotel where troops were staying. Local reports and officials from the Texas military confirmed this information.
Despite efforts made by Governor Abbott to secure the border, the families of the fallen guardsmen have been left feeling unsupported and let down by the government’s handling of the crisis. Jessica Lever, whose son DaJuan Townes was killed in February 2022 during an accidental shooting at Fort Clark Springs, voiced her frustration with the current administration’s response to the border crisis.
If laws had been passed to secure the border by [Vice President Kamala] Harris and [President Joe] Biden, then my son would still be here,” Lever told The Post. I do feel like his country failed him.
Since March 2021, Texas Guard members have been assigned to the border alongside other state law enforcement officials as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star mission, which was implemented in response to record waves of unlawful immigration and drug smuggling into the United States. Roughly eight million migrants have entered the country since June 2021, according to federal data.
In a bid to address the root causes of illegal immigration across the southwest border with Mexico, President Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to serve as his “border czar” in March 2021. However, critics argue that weak policies and poor management from the White House have only served to exacerbate an already dangerous situation for those tasked with securing the border.
The tragic deaths of the seventeen National Guard members at the border are a direct result of this current administration’s failed policies,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ. The weak policies and poor management from our ineffective border czar, Kamala Harris, and the White House put our soldiers in dangerous conditions, and these deaths are a clear sign of their failures.
As the crisis at the US-Mexico border continues to unfold, it remains unclear whether the government will take significant steps to address the dangers faced by those tasked with securing the border. In the meantime, the families of the seventeen National Guard members who have lost their lives in service continue to mourn their loved ones and call for change.
