CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. — In just two days, 50 members of the Indiana National Guard will deploy to the southern border.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the deployment early last month.
The goal is to help deal with the migrant crisis at the border.
Indiana National Guard troops have been getting ready since the announcement.
They'll be working with the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
To prepare, they've been learning Spanish.
Instructors from Indiana University have been teaching them how to speak about topics like first aid as a way to head off potential issues.
"If they need help from anything, for us to understand what they're trying to say is going to help us out a lot and it's going to help them out a lot in the future," said Indiana National Guard Sergeant Lindsey Gilbert.
The deployment is part of Operation Lone Star. That's Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott's strategy for dealing with the border crisis.
Last month, Holcomb announced Indiana would be helping in the effort.
His announcement came days after a bipartisan bill to address border security died in the U.S. Senate.
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, say the border is out of control and blame President Biden's immigration policies for encouraging migrants to try to come to the United States.
The Biden administration says Republicans have failed to work with them to fund a key border security bill.
Indiana Democrats issued a statement about Thursday's deployment, calling for comprehensive immigration reform, saying it starts with passing the bipartisan border security bill.
Indiana will join a number of states that are sending or have already sent National Guard troops to Texas.
"I believe it's important to help our fellow National Guard states because it shows our support for their mission, their commander's intent and leadership mandate and if it ever comes to the day where Indiana requests help from fellow states or fellow National Guard units, they will be more likely to answer that call because we answered theirs," said Indiana National Guard Specialist Romeo Gonzalez.
Troops are set to deploy Thursday morning and are expected to be in Texas for 10 months.
13News will be at Camp Atterbury Thursday morning, where Holcomb is set to give remarks.