Gov. Mike DeWine visits Ohio National Guard members at Texas border, will meet with other GOP governors

Gov. Mike DeWine is visiting the 113 members of the Ohio National Guard deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border and joining a press conference today with 10 Republican governors to talk about border security.

The governors of Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming and Texas are slated to participate in the 1 p.m. briefing with the Texas Department of Public Safety on issues of fentanyl trafficking and the humanitarian crisis at the border.

Ohio sent members of the Guard to Texas nearly a year ago to support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Ohio is assisting with vehicle maintenance, administrative duties and other non-law enforcement tasks so that CBP agents are freed up. In July DeWine sent 14 Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to Texas at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott.

DeWine, First Lady Fran DeWine and Ohio Adjutant General John C. Harris, Jr. posted a short video to Facebook, describing the mission and thanking members of the Guard for their work.

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Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Adonna Biel called it a political stunt and asked the governors to work with Democrats to improve the immigration system.

“The Republican governors taking their political field trip to the U.S.-Mexico border are the same ones who stood idly by as Donald Trump spent four years destroying our immigration system and spreading vile, xenophobic rhetoric," Biel said in a written statement.

This story will be updated.

Reporter Anna Staver contributed to this report.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.