NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Gov. Bill Lee is traveling to the U.S. Southern border this weekend to meet with Tennessee National Guard troops.
Currently, there are 300 Tennessee National Guard members stationed at multiple sites throughout the border region of Texas
In a release Thursday, Lee said he wanted to “personally commend the more than 300 Tennesseans who are serving our country and on the front lines of this crisis.”
The 300 members are a part of three units there – the 269th Military Police Company, the 913th Engineer Company and the 2-151 Aviation Battalion.
However, not everyone is thrilled about Lee’s decision to visit the southern border. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights (TIRRC) wants Gov. Lee to focus more on schools fully re-opening, the economy bouncing back, and sustaining public health care.
They released the following statement, saying in-part: “What the Governor is doing is playing on the fear of his constituents to further feed into the narrative of there being a crisis at the border, when in reality there is a greater need for logistics for processing people who are seeking refuge.”
Governor Lee is expected to provide NewsChannel 5 with an update of his visit on Sunday night.
