AUSTIN – Dan Patrick, Texas State Senator and Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, released the following statement regarding Leticia Van De Putte’s stunning flip-flop on National Guard troops deployed to the Texas/Mexico border.
“Earlier this year I urged Governor Perry to send National Guard troops to our border to safeguard all Texans from the several threats posed by the Obama Administration’s failure to secure the border. On July 21st Governor Perry announced the deployment of up to 1,000 National Guard troops. I applauded his action. My opponent, at first strongly opposed Governor Perry’s effort, saying his “decision is the wrong way to go” because it would “strictly militarize the border.” Now she flip-flopped, saying she supports the National Guard’s border presence – even writing a letter to Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst and Speaker Straus pleading for additional funding.
“Van de Putte is not only on the wrong side of this issue, her voting record in the Texas Senate on illegal immigration has contributed directly to the disaster we face today along the border. She has authored the law giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. She voted to give driver licenses, free healthcare and other taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants. More recently, as one of President Obama’s biggest allies here in Texas, her stated solution to our current border crisis was to give hundreds of millions of federal taxpayer dollars to the governments of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
“Her failed record on illegal immigration here in Texas helped create this problem and no amount of flip-flopping or spinning can hide her record from voters this November.
“Border security is my top priority. I’ve been very vocal and passionate about this issue for years. As Lieutenant Governor, I will do everything in my power to fund border security at levels recommended by Texas Law enforcement on a 24/7/365 day basis. We must do all we can to protect Texans until Washington meets its responsibility to secure our border and pass responsible legal immigration reform”.
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