Border Patrol agents welcomed the news of President Donald Trump’s order activating the National Guard to assist with securing the southwest border with Mexico. Agents said the move will put more agents on the front line and help make the border safer.

“I worked with the Texas National Guard during their 2014 border deployment,” Border Patrol Agent Hector Garza told Breitbart Texas in his capacity as president of National Border Patrol Council Local 2455. “They were very helpful to our operations.”

Garza said the Guardsmen took over many tasks normally filled by agents who are taken from the border. These tasks included monitoring cameras and sensors, vehicle maintenance, and other support roles. “Some of the Guardsmen also paired up with agents to provide additional manpower and safety along the border region,” Garza stated.

The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) represents more than 18,000 men and women who defend the borders of the United States.

“Smuggling of both humans and illicit contraband such as opioids is a multi-billion-dollar industry,” NBPC officials posted on their website. “It is predicated on getting their products across the border without detection and apprehension or seizure.”

“With the National Guard assisting with our surveillance operations it will free up resources to patrol the border, thereby increasing the certainty of apprehension or seizure and put a dent in the bottom line (profits) of the criminal cartels that control all smuggling on our borders,” NBPC officials said.

The agents anticipate that National Guardsmen will perform duties that include monitoring border camera systems, conducting surveillance on “sky boxes” or other observation posts, monitoring border sensors, operating scope vehicles, and other activities to free up agents to stay on the front line of the border.

“By deploying the National Guard to take over these and other activities, it will free up law enforcement resources to patrol the border and make arrests,” the NBPC statement continues. “This action will increase the certainty of detection and apprehension.”

Currently, Congressional legislation calls for 21,370 Border Patrol agents to work along our nation’s borders. However, the Border Patrol currently only employes a little more than 19,000 agents.

On Friday, the State of Texas announced the deployment of 250 National Guardsmen, Breitbart Texas reported. Some of those are assigned to helicopter units and have already been dispatched to the border region.