Ten Republican governors gathered at the southern border on Wednesday to bash Joe Biden for the crisis he created there and talk up a 10-point plan to address the decline of security at the southern border and the worrying rise in human smuggling — the worst in two decades.
On September 20, 20 GOP governors sent a letter to the White House imploring the president to take action. That letter was ignored as were individual entreaties from state governors across the country. So the ten governors — Greg Abbott of Texas, Doug Ducey of Arizona, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Brad Little of Idaho, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, and Mark Gordon of Wyoming made the trip to the border to ask the president to reinstate many Trump-era policies that were working in keeping the numbers of illegals down.
Washington Examiner:
At the top of the list, the governors call for Biden to commit to continuing Title 42 expulsions, a pandemic-era protocol that allowed for the immediate return of border-crossers to Mexico or their country of origin rather than placement in custody. The Biden administration vowed to end Title 42 as the pandemic improved but has yet to do so. However, the majority of families who come across the border are not being expelled but released into the United States, even though at one point 20% of migrants tested positive for the coronavirus after being released.
The GOP coalition wants to see federal law enforcement and military units from other agencies sent to the border, as Border Patrol agents who normally guard the international boundary have been pulled from those duties to transport and process people in custody. Those seeking asylum should be turned away and required to live in Mexico while they go through legal proceedings rather than be released into the U.S., the governors said.
Title 42 is still in effect, although the Biden administration has carved out numerous exemptions. And despite a federal judge ordering the Biden administration to maintain the Remain in Mexico policy, Biden is still looking for a way to end it.
They also called for the end of “catch and release,” a term used to describe how illegal immigrants are effectively taken into custody but let into the U.S. rather than removed. They said that all criminals in the U.S. should be priorities for deportation, referencing changes the Biden administration made easing Trump-era operations.
One of the governors’ most urgent demands is to “Dedicate federal resources to eradicate human trafficking and drug trafficking.” There is no more tragic — and preventable — tragedy at the border and the Biden administration has blood on its hands for refusing to devote the proper amount of federal resources to address the problem.
Many of the governors have deployed their own state National Guard troops to the Texas border and want the federal government to reimburse them for those costs. They also asked for notification from federal officials when unaccompanied children and families are flown or bused to their states.
The governors want a resumption of deportations for illegals who have been convicted of a felony while in the United States. And they want Biden to finish building the wall.
Perhaps what the governors are really looking for is a change in attitude toward border security by the Biden administration. That’s not likely to happen anytime soon.
Source: PJ Media
