An inside look at the Georgia National Guard on the U.S.-Mexico border
In a Channel 2 Action News exclusive, Georgia Army National Guard soldiers gave a boots-on-the-ground view of their work on the Texas-Mexico border.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne went to the Del Rio, Texas, sector, and he reported that Georgia soldiers have been working on the southern border longer than many people may think.
'I feel like the mission is very essential to national security,' said Staff Sgt. Erica Marroquin.
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The immigration debate may put the eyes of a nation on the U.S.-Mexico border, but Georgia Army National Guard Commander Brigadier Gen. Jason Fryman said they are apolitical in their services.
The biggest job two Georgia Guard companies have in the Del Rio sector is keeping eyes on the border to watch for illegal crossings and notifying the U.S. Border Patrol, who makes arrests when called for.
'Sometimes you see stuff on TV, and you never really think you would actually be a part of that,' said Spc. Tatyanna Heard-Gerald.
Heard-Gerald says in civilian life she works at a window factory in Bibb County. Here, she helps man a border patrol high tech surveillance truck, as does Spc. Oscar Ramiro.
'I'm from Atlanta, Georgia, and on the civilian side I work with my father in construction,' Ramiro said.
Fryman says one company is an engineering unit, the other a maintenance company. But most of the 250 Georgia soldiers on the border have adapted to the surveillance, or spotter, mission as members of Task Force Badger led by the Wisconsin National Guard.
Wisconsin Army National Guard Lt. Col. Bryan Huebsch told Winne in civilian life he works in workforce development, but on the border, he commands a force of 400 soldiers.
'The number in our task force has grown since October as part of a larger DOD force increase across the border,' he said. 'We went from about 2,000 soldiers to 10,000 soldiers across the entire border.'
Georgia National Guard Capt. Kyle Bailey says the work his soldiers do in texas, from maintaining border patrol trucks to warehousing and ordering supplies, and most importantly the surveillance mission, frees up Customs and Border Protection officers to focus on their main job.
'I believe every troop out here is making a difference,' Bailey said.
Fryman said the Georgia Guard is not new to the border, with a continuous presence there since 2018.
A major told Winne me that a haversack he showed him was carried by a Georgia soldier on the border in 1916.
'I can tell you something about 1916: The Border Patrol did not exist until 1924, so that makes a difference,' said Efren Olivares, legal director of the National Immigration Law Center.
Olivares said he believes border enforcement should be left to the federal enforcement agencies.
'I encourage all viewers to look beyond the politics of it,' he said.
Del Rio sector acting Chief Patrol Agent Desi Deleon says many factors caused the dramatic drop, including actions by the Mexican government and stronger enforcement of consequences in existing U.S. law, but a major increase in U.S. military on the border in recent months, including the Georgia National Guard, is a factor.
'Del Rio has been one of the busiest sectors throughout the nation over the last few years,' Deleon said. 'They were averaging about 3,000 to 4,000 apprehensions at the high water mark a day, whereas now we're anywhere from 40 to 50 on a daily basis.'
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