Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R.) announced Thursday she would deploy approximately 80 National Guard troops to the southern border in July to assist in handling the migrant crisis, according to Fox News.
Sanders joins five other Republican governors who have responded this week to Texas governor Greg Abbott’s letter to all U.S. governors requesting support at the overwhelmed southern border.
Governors Kim Reynolds (Iowa), Jim Justice (W.Va.), Glenn Youngkin (Va.), Henry McMaster (S.C.), Kristi Noem (S.D.), and Sanders will send more than 300 guardsmen in total for 30 days, with Iowa also sending 30 public service officers. McMaster has not said how many guardsmen he will send, but he told a local CBS affiliate he expects to deploy the troops July 1.
"The crisis we are experiencing is a direct result of a dereliction of duty by President Biden," Reynolds, the first of the five to announce a deployment this week, said in a press release Tuesday. "The consequences of an open border can be felt across the country as fentanyl and the cartels threaten our communities. While the White House chooses to do nothing, Republican Governors stand ready to protect our states’ interests."
The governors' support comes as border states overwhelmed by the migrant crisis continue to bus migrants to Democratic cities. New York City mayor Eric Adams (D.) said Abbott was targeting "Black-run cities" by transporting migrants to New York and other cities. New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.) told local officials in the state to accept illegal immigrants and not be "bigoted."
More than 4.6 million migrants have been apprehended for crossing illegally since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, according to Reuters, though the number includes repeat crossers. Migrant detentions at the border have decreased since the pandemic-era Title 42 immigration restriction was lifted May 11.
A Reuters poll released last month found only 26 percent of respondents approved of Biden's handling of immigration.
The Biden administration deployed over 1,500 U.S. troops to the border last month ahead of the end of Title 42.