Anticipating Tough Campaign, Perry Focuses On What He Knows: Immigration

What do you do when you are Texas longest-serving governor, running for re-election to a third term against a tough-as-nails opponent, and your entire administration has basically been a dismal failure when it comes to any meaningful issues of importance to everyday Texans?

Well, you focus on what you know. For Texas Governor Rick Perry, that’s tax cuts and immigration. Never mind that the last one isn’t exactly a responsibility of the state under the constitution, of course.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Texas Governor Rick Perry sent an April letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asking for 600 soldiers to be stationed in “reconnaissance platoons” to patrol the Texas/Mexico border:

Perry’s plan would be part of 1,000 Texas National Guard troops called up to full-time duty. Perry could call up the Guard on his own but the state would have to pay for it. The $135.6 million it would cost in the first year isn’t included in the state budget adopted for 2010-11

Under the plan, the soldiers would be deployed in 24 reconnaissance platoons to 20 remote locations.

“It is my recommendation that the federal government adopt a proactive, rather than reactive, approach in addressing the threat from spillover violence by immediately increasing the security along the U.S.-Mexico border with an overwhelming uniformed patrol presence on the ground, in the water and in the air,” Perry wrote.

Perry asked Napolitano in February for the 1,000 troops to augment efforts along the border.

Texas Guard spokesman Col. Bill Meehan said he didn’t know how the “border reconnaissance platoons” would operate but noted similarities to Operation Wrangler.

Don’t be surprised if Perry’s letter is actually a trigger for something much bigger: a special session.

If Napolitano denies Perry’s request (which she is likely to do), Perry could call up the Texas National Guard himself. That would send the state budget into an overload mode that the Legislative Budget Board would be reluctant–or perhaps even legally prohibited–from reparing.

Then, Perry can use that as an excuse for a Special Session. That will accomplish three things: it will make him look “tough” on immigration to the GOP base, it will create a lot of votes in the legislature that could hurt Democrats against Republicans in 2010, and he would have an excuse to add voter identification to the call for the special session.

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