DES MOINES, Iowa – Gov. Kim Reynolds traveled to Mission, Texas on Wednesday to visit the southern border and join eleven other Republican governors urging the Biden Administration to act.
The Republican governors, including Reynolds, led by Governors Doug Ducey of Arizona and Greg Abbott of Texas, had sent a letter to Biden on September 20th, requesting a meeting within 15 days to discuss the crisis on the southern border, a request he has not yet granted.
After speaking with representatives from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Department of Public Safety, the governors announced ten solutions that the Biden Administration could implement without a vote from Congress.
The solutions included in the joint policy framework are:
- Continue Title 42 public health restrictions.
- Fully reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols.
- Finish securing the border.
- End catch and release.
- Clear the judicial backlog.
- Resume the deportation of all criminals.
- Dedicate federal resources to eradicate human trafficking and drug trafficking.
- Re-enter all agreements with our Northern Triangle partners and Mexico.
- Send a clear message to potential migrants.
- Deploy more federal law enforcement officers.
“It’s been 16 days since we sent the letter to President Biden; over half of America’s governors requested a meeting with him to sit down and really talk about how we can address the humanitarian and security crisis that we’re experiencing at the southern border. To date, we have not even had an acknowledgement or any response. So the governors decided to get together and discuss what the governor federal government needs to do to stop the humanitarian and security crisis at the border. We were able to put together ten policies that we believe will protect America, restore security, and end the crisis at the border,” Reynolds said on a conference call with Iowa press.
She said the president is not doing his job and would not rule out sending additional law enforcement or national guard to the border.
Reynolds sent 28 Iowa Department of Public Safety officers to the border in July. There are currently 26 Iowa National Guard members in Arizona, and a small unit left Texas after being deployed for a year.
“The President has a constitutional responsibility to protect the border and to protect Americans. And he is not doing that. And so if he doesn’t step up and do what he needs to do, then, you know, well, we’re going to have to step up and do what we need to do,” she stated.
Reynolds also expressed frustration with the Biden Administration’s lack of transparency.
“Nineteen young unaccompanied girls were flown into the Des Moines airport in the middle of the night and then boarded on a charter bus and sent who knows where we had no knowledge of that. He needs to be transparent. They need to let governors know when they are sending illegal migrants as well as unaccompanied children into our state because I become responsible for that. And my number one priority is to protect the health and safety of Iowans. They need to be transparent,” she said.
Reynolds also pointed out the increases of fentanyl and meth coming across the border, which impacts Iowans.
She insisted that her stance is not political.
“This is the real thing. Biden owns this. This is a self-inflicted crisis. He overturned all the policies that work. The Border Patrol (Union) president has been in the Border Patrol for 25 years, and he said this is the worst that he has ever seen in 25 years. So yes, it’s real. It’s impacting states. It’s not staying at the border. And people better pay attention, or we’re going to continue to see our loved ones pay the price for what’s coming across this across the border,” Reynolds said.
Read the joint policy statement below:
JOINT-POLICY-FRAMEWORK-ON-THE-BORDER-CRISIS_final
