Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is extending the deployment of the National Guard troops at the border with Mexico due to a spike in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing into the state.
Abbott, a Republican, criticized federal officials Tuesday in the wake of U.S. Border Patrol figures that show more than 10,000 unaccompanied children crossing into the U.S. in October and November. That is double the number of crossings in the same two months last year.
The uptick has already prompted Border Patrol to open two shelters in Texas and one in California.
Former Gov. Rick Perry first deployed National Guard troops to the border in 2014. He sent more than 1,000, though only a few hundred have remained in recent months.
