Members of the Texas National Guard deployed to the southern border under Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial immigration initiative are raising several concerns about their mission, including reports that some guardsmen have died in suspected suicides.
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They say those problems have ranged from pay delays to poor housing arrangements and inadequate training to assist Border Patrol in apprehending immigrants. Some of the guardsmen who spoke to ABC News say word of the suspected suicides of four members of the National Guard since October has also prompted them to come forward.
Former enlisted senior adviser to the Texas National Guard, Sgt. Maj. Jason Featherston, said he believes four reported recent incidents of the unit’s soldiers dying by suicide, including one who served under his leadership a few years back, are directly tied to the rapid escalation and poor execution of the program.
He included additional documentation that indicated the company was moving forward with the hiring process and wanted to set up an interview. In late January, 50 Texas House Democrats signed a letter calling on the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to investigate and end Operation Lone Star. The letter said members of the Texas legislature had received an email from a soldier with concerns about the mission.
News of the suicides has shocked the military community. Some soldiers currently deployed under Operation Lone Star said the deaths should call attention to the stresses the mission is causing. One soldier told ABC News he knew one of the deceased members and acknowledged that while several factors often contribute to a suicide, being deployed at a moment’s notice is a major stressor.
“They look like massive six-wheel trailers with slide outs that have two bathrooms and either between 12 and 20 beds,” he said. “So there was a lot of uncertainty — soldiers didn’t know where they were going to be living.”
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