Iowa to send officers to Texas border

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa will send up to 30 state police officers on a two-week deployment to Texas after Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds agreed to a request from GOP governors to help fight crime at the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Thursday.

A statement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety did not say when the deployment of the officers would begin or how they would be chosen. The officers will assist the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Critics said the deployment was a political boondoggle that would accomplish little, other than diverting dozens of officers at a time when they were needed in Iowa. They noted that Reynolds in April declined a federal request for help housing migrant children who had crossed the border, saying: “This is not our problem.”

Reynolds said she agreed to the deployment in the wake of similar moves by Republican governors in Nebraska, Florida and Idaho, after receiving assurances from the department that the absences will not compromise public safety in Iowa.

Earlier this month, Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona requested help at the border from other states under an interstate compact to provide mutual aid during emergencies and disasters.