On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended his plan to send hundreds of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to fight undocumented immigration.

Perry announced his plan last month, garnering support for his potential 2016 presidential campaign, The Associated Press reports. Although the governor only asked for 1,000 volunteers, he ended up with 2,200 from the Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air National Guard and State Guard, Los Angeles Times reports.

On Wednesday, Perry went to Camp Swift Army National Guard Training Center to tell hundreds of troops in training how important he thinks their mission is, according to AP.

"You now are the tip of the spear protecting Americans from these cartels," Perry said. "As they are able to get past you they could be headed to any city, any neighborhood in this country, spreading their tentacles of crime, of fear."

According to the governor, undocumented immigrants cause much crime in Texas, as well as Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina, which are all states he has visited recently. The governor cites data from the Texas Department of Public Safety that says since 2008, 203,000 undocumented immigrants have been charged with over 3,000 homicides and over 8,000 sexual assaults.

Federal data cited by AP on the other hand, points out that crime on the Texas-Mexico border has decreased recently alongside nationwide crime rates.

On Wednesday, San Antonio Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro released a statement saying Perry's border plan "appears to be a feel good show of force without clear purpose."

"The idea that what we're doing is politics versus protecting the people of Texas, the people of this country is just false on its face," Perry responded Wednesday.

According to the L.A. Times, the troop deployment will cost Texas $12 million a month. Perry has asked the federal government to fund the program and is currently using $38 million worth of public safety funds originally designated to emergency radio infrastructure to pay for his border plan.

"I don't know how long that goes, but I know the people of the state of Texas will support what we're doing to secure that border until our friends in Washington understand that it is their constitutional requirement to secure that border," Perry said.

Perry has not yet revealed when the troops will go to the border.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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