SAN ANTONIO – Republican state Rep. Doug Miller, who toured the Rio Grande Valley on Monday with state police, said groups acting as militias on the border "have a right to be there" and "are not currently a problem."

Miller, a three-term state representative of  New Braunfels, said he discussed the militias, which have drawn sharp criticism from Democrats, with Texas Department of Public Safety officers. Miller, as Gov. Rick Perry did last month, rode in a DPS gun boat and on a helicopter near McAllen as part of an "informational trip" to observe the "cartel's system to get people and drugs across the border."

Miller said the militias "are private citizens and they have a right to be there and a right to bear arms if they have permission of the land owner."

"What I was told is (the militia groups) are on private property, helping ranchers and owners to keep illegals coming onto or through their property ... and there haven't been any problems," Miller told the Express-News. "When (the groups) are coming into an area, they've been very forthright, letting (law enforcement) know they were there so there wouldn't be some type of negative interaction."

Twelve members of the Texas congressional delegation, all Democrats, penned a letter last week to Attorney General Greg Abbott, asking him to denounce the groups and clarify the legality of their operations. Abbott shrugged off the letter as a political stunt but state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said last week "pointing guns at children solves nothing."

The militias, carrying semi-automatic rifles and wearing masks and fatigues, organized in June when national attention focused on more than 50,000 unaccompanied minor immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, many fleeing violence and poverty in Central America.

Miller attributed the spike in Central American children crossing the border illegally in recent months to Mexican drug cartels that are "helping and encouraging people to send their children" to the United States.

"It is all part of the strategy of the cartels to cause distractions for border patrol and for our law enforcement so they can continue or enhance their drug operation," said Miller, adding that the cartels also are the root of violence and poverty in the Central American countries.

Miller, however, said Perry's deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops and a beefed up DPS presence on the border has deterred immigrants and cartel members "by a show of force." Miller said a long term answer is illusive besides "securing the border."

"We have secured state resources in the absence of federal assistance," he said. It is encouraging to me, as a state lawmaker, that we have sent professional personnel to the border. We'll never have 100% secure border, but I think with what we've done, we've sent a very clear message to Mexico that we are not going to accept this."

kparker@express-news.net
Twitter: @KoltenParker