Every GOP governor in the nation, with the exception of a lone holdout, demanded that the White House stem the flood of illegal migrants through the southern border “before the situation worsens.”
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott was the only Republican not to join his 26 peers in urging President Biden to meet with them at the White House to “bring an end to the national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders.”
Their demands come on the heels of more than 10,000 Haitians packing under a Del Rio, Texas bridge, while trying to gain entry into the United States. “We’ll get it under control,” Biden promised on Tuesday.
“The months-long surge in illegal crossings has instigated an international humanitarian crisis, spurred a spike in international criminal activity, and opened the floodgates to human traffickers and drug smugglers endangering public health and safety in our states,” the governors stated.
“A crisis that began at our southern border now extends beyond to every state and requires immediate action before the situation worsens.”
Migrant encounters with U.S. Border Patrol have skyrocketed in 2021, with more than 78,000 in January and that number steadily rising month-by-month to over 200,000 in August.
“The negative impacts of an unenforced border policy on the American people can no longer be ignored,” the letter details. “Border apprehensions are up almost 500% compared to last year, totaling more than 1.3 million—more people than the populations of nine U.S. states.”
The chief executives of red states explained the stark reality of criminal activity at the border. Nearly 10,000 illegal apprehensions have prior criminal convictions, while cartels and human traffickers are raking in $14 million a day ferrying illegal migrants over the border.
“More fentanyl has been seized this fiscal year than the last three years combined—almost 10,500 pounds of fentanyl when only 2 milligrams prove fatal,” they continued. “This is enough to kill seven times the U.S. population.”
The governors allege that the federal government has created a crisis that they left the states to deal with, but they believe that ending it is “simple and straightforward,” if the President executes the immigration laws passed by Congress.
They have requested that the meeting take place within 15 days of the letter’s date as “ending the national crisis and securing our states must be a priority” for Biden.
