Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling for the federal government to step up its presence along the U.S./Mexico border following the deaths of two American consulate employees in Ciudad Juarez.

Perry issued his statement on Monday afternoon requesting predator drones and National Guard troops to be placed along the border. 

“Over the weekend, more innocent people fell victim to the increasingly ruthless Mexican drug cartels, including the murder of a pregnant American woman and her American husband in Juarez,” Perry said in the statement. “How many Americans will have to die before our federal government takes serious action along the Texas-Mexico border?”

Perry condemned the federal government saying they “failed in their vital duty to secure the border.”

The governor said the Texas Department of Public Safety is urging college students to avoid traveling to border cities in Mexico during spring break and that extra troopers will be on patrol as a precaution.

 “As we express sympathy for the lives lost, we are also dismayed by the brutal and cowardly tactics of the drug cartels, and we will continue supporting President Calderon’s efforts to defeat them by committing our own resources here in Texas to amplify border security efforts,” Perry said in a statement. 

According to the latest figures, about 4,700 homicides have been reported across the border from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez since January 2008, making it one of the most violent cities in the world.

Perry said in his request to place 1,000 National Guardsmen on the border remains pending in Washington DC.