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Texas Officials Request Answers on Border Monitoring Drawdown

Eric Gay
/
AP photo

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to reduce its aerial surveillance on the Texas-Mexico border. On Monday Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, asked to know why. The pair wrote a strongly worded letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, reports The Texas Tribune. In their missive, the lawmakers wrote: “Given the recent surge of migrants . . . along the southern border, we believe DHS should request more surveillance and security resources, not fewer.”

A DHS spokesperson said the agency would respond "directly" to the governor and the congressman instead of answering publicly. Meanwhile, border patrol is reporting a new surge in the number of undocumented immigrants crossing the Rio Grande.

From October to December of last year, almost 11,000 unaccompanied minors entered Texas illegally through the Rio Grande Valley.