Republican governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona are requesting assistance from other states to secure the southern border from a flood of illegal immigration.
Abbott and Ducey put out a joint statement last week calling for other states to send law enforcement agents to beef up border security as the Biden administration struggles to stem unprecedented levels of illegal immigration into the U.S.
“Securing our border with Mexico is the federal government’s responsibility. But the Biden administration has proven unwilling or unable to do the job,” the governors wrote in a letter dated June 10. “This failure to enforce federal immigration laws causes banns that spill over into every State.”
“The cartels will see to it that their deadly fentanyl and human-trafficking victims reach far and wide. The convicted criminals they smuggle into the homeland will bring recidivism with them to far too many of your communities. And although now people are coming to our border from as far away as Senegal, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan, the cartels are not exactly screening for threats to public health or national security,” the governors wrote.
The governors highlighted that they have each already deployed hundreds of officers and national guardsmen to the border to assist Border Patrol in securing the border.
“In response to the ongoing surge of illegal border crossings, with the accompanying threats to private property and to the safety of our citizens, Governor Abbott has declared a disaster and Governor Ducey has declared an emergency,” the letter says. “Given the staggering number of violations now occurring in Texas and Arizona, additional manpower is needed from any state that can spare it. With your help, we can apprehend more of these perpetrators of state and federal crimes, before they can cause problems in your State.”
Illegal immigrants, including many unaccompanied minors, have continued to surge to the border since President Joe Biden won the White House last year. The Border Patrol set a record for apprehensions last month, arresting more illegal immigrants in the month of May than any other month on record dating back to the Department of Homeland Security’s beginning in 2002. As The Daily Wire reported:
“In May 2021, CBP encountered 180,034 persons attempting entry along the Southwest Border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. “Single adults continue to make up the majority of these encounters.”
The disastrous border numbers for last month represented a staggering 674% increase vs. May of 2020 when 23,237 illegal aliens were apprehended. Last month’s numbers were the worst numbers in more than two decades.
In Arizona, the Biden administration has begun adapting hotels into migrant shelters as federal facilities along the border overflow with illegal immigrants awaiting processing. Arizona GOP Attorney General Mark Brnovich slammed Biden in a letter accusing the federal government of putting Arizonans at risk.
“The President is using Arizona as an experiment with his reckless border policies,” Brnovich said. “I will continue to stand up for Arizonans and do everything I can to stop the Biden Administration’s attempt to abolish ICE. All of us will pay the price, not only with our tax dollars, but also with our national security, and the safety of our families.”