“Texas can’t afford to wait for Washington to act on this crisis and we will not sit idly by while the safety and security of our citizens are threatened,” Republican Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement.

The intensified security operations will be in effect at least through the end of the year, and will replicate a program last fall targeting human and drug trafficking. Perry and fellow Republicans Lt. Gov. David Dewhust and Texas State House Speaker Joe Straus called for the enhanced security measures in an open letter to the head of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety.