The state of West Virginia spent more than $900,000 in 2023 sending a group of volunteers from the West Virginia National Guard to the southern border as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star initiative, according to documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act and shared by nonprofit watchdog group American Oversight.
The roughly $907,000 expense was used to send 53 members of the Guard, who all volunteered for the mission, to Eagle Pass, Texas for a month-long deployment. Details of what they did on that deployment have been sparse and both the Governor’s Office and representatives for the West Virginia National Guard have repeatedly denied or ignored requests from West Virginia Watch since August seeking further information.