Republican governors are calling on President Joe Biden to meet within 15 days to talk about his administration's "emergent crisis" at the southern border — most recently Del Rio, Texas.
"Due to the emergent crisis, we respectfully request a meeting as soon as your schedule allows within 15 days," 26 members of the Republican Governors Association wrote in a letter addressed to Biden on Monday.
"As chief executives of our states, we request a meeting with you at the White House to bring an end to the national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders."
The signatories include almost every Republican governor in the U.S., with Vermont GOP Gov. Phil Scott the lone holdout. They are saying the border impacts are being felt throughout the U.S. and not just in border states.
"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 RGA letter began. "A crisis that began at our southern border now extends beyond to every state and requires immediate action before the situation worsens."
Border apprehensions have surged almost 500% since last year, totaling 1.3 million people, which is "more people than the populations of nine U.S. states," according to the RGA.
"Despite the lack of federal action to reverse the crisis, many states have stepped up and committed unprecedented resources to support the security of our national border," the letter read. "We have heard directly from our constituents about the damage this crisis has caused in our states, and it is our duty as elected officials to act swiftly to protect our communities, as it is yours."
Ultimately, securing the border is the job of the federal government and the duty of the president, the governors continued.
"While governors are doing what we can, our Constitution requires that the president must faithfully execute the immigration laws passed by Congress," the letter added. "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.
"We must end the current crisis and return to border operations that respect the laws of our land and the lives of all people, including those in our states looking to the federal government to enforce and protect our nation's borders."
Former acting Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Mark Morgan told Newsmax on Sunday, the administration is violating Section IV, Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution that calls on the president to protect states from an "invasion."
"Article IV, Section 4 protects the states from invasion," Morgan told Newsmax by phone Sunday. "It's a massive invasion.
"What else would you call that: migrants unchecked, walking back and forth freely at the border. The federal government has stopped patrolling 224 miles, allowing thousands of migrants to come across.
"The U.S. has lost control of the border in the Del Rio sector," he added.
"This would not have happened under the Trump administration."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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