TribBlog: Border Politics, Now from White

I suppose if you're a Texas politician this week you just have to make hay out of the situation on the border. Today, it was Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White's turn.

White released a statement criticizing GOP Gov. Rick Perry for not consulting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano or border mayors before launching his "secret" border spillover contingency plan this week.

White said he asked Napolitano to provide more border resources and airborne surveillance in Texas. According to him, the secretary said she would consider the request seriously and that she would have done so for Perry, too, had he consulted her. If he is elected governor, White said, he will work with Washington and with local officials.

"Law enforcement both along the border and in other areas of Texas requires working with sheriffs, police chiefs, state officials and federal agencies. An uncoordinated, secret plan is not an effective plan," White said.