26 GOP Governors Demand Meeting With Biden Amid Deepening Frustration Over Border Crisis
© REUTERS / GO NAKAMURA
Subscribe
The immigration influx has worsened in recent weeks as thousands of Haitian migrants have stopped in Texas near Del Rio, hoping to receive legal resident status. Meanwhile, the US authorities have closed this part of the border, agreeing with the Haitian government that migrants would be deported back to Haiti.
Over 26 Republican governors have "urgently" demanded a meeting with US President Joe Biden as tensions are heightening on the issue of illegal migrants, according to a letter sent by the officials on Monday.
Among those who signed the letter were Doug Ducey of Arizona, Ron DeSantis of Florida, and Greg Abbott of Texas.
Claiming that the dramatic surge of border crossings, which intensified in recent weeks, has created an “international humanitarian crisis,” the Republican governors demanded an “open and constructive dialogue regarding border enforcement on behalf of US citizens in our states and all those hoping to become US citizens.”
I sent a letter with 25 fellow governors requesting an urgent meeting with President Biden to find meaningful solutions to the worst border crisis in more than two decades.
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) September 20, 2021
Read the letter here: https://t.co/9QWDkZeJfG
They mentioned that border apprehensions have surged up to 500 percent compared with the same period last year, while 9,700 detainees had a criminal record. Apart from that, border agents have confiscated more fentanyl over this fiscal year than in the three previous years combined, while drug dealers and human traffickers are gaining millions of dollars through smuggling, the officials said.
“While governors are doing what we can, our Constitution requires that the president must faithfully execute the immigration laws passed by Congress” the letter reads. “Not only has the federal government created a crisis, it has left our states to deal with challenges that only the federal government has a duty to solve.”
The Republican governors claimed that the American immigration system is complicated while the way out of the border crisis is simple, and the US president has “the ability to take action to protect America, restore security, and end the crisis now.”
On Sunday, expulsion flights started the process of removing migrants from a makeshift camp under the bridge connecting Texas’ Del Rio with Mexican Ciudad Acuna. Thousands of Haitian immigrants have gathered there hoping to find asylum in the US.
The latest surge of Haitian refugees added to the record-breaking number of illegal border crossings over this summer, with border officials recording over 200,000 encounters in August alone.
