Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday that he will send additional Georgia National Guard troops to help the state of Texas defend its border with Mexico against illegal immigration.
The Republican governor blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for failing to secure the border, forcing Kemp and other GOP governors to come to the aid of Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott has erected razor wire along portions of the Texas-Mexico border, insisting the Lone Star State has the right to protect its border, pitting him in a legal dispute with the Biden administration, which insists immigration enforcement is up to the federal government.
“We reinforce the right of states to defend themselves against threats when the administration is unwilling to step up and lead,” Kemp said Tuesday during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol.
Kemp’s announcement followed his trip to the Texas border with a group of Republican governors earlier this month, his fifth since taking office in 2019.
The Republican-controlled Georgia legislature has lent its support to the governor. The state Senate passed a resolution Monday supporting the Texas mission and defending states’ constitutional right to defend themselves, while the Georgia House followed suit on Tuesday. Both votes were along party lines.
Kemp said more than 8.5 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the U.S. since Biden took office in 2021, including 169 on the terror watchlist during the last fiscal year.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated 91 cases of fentanyl last year, an increase of 51% over the previous year, the governor said.
Democrats have argued the federal government is the proper venue for addressing illegal immigration and have taken Republicans in Congress to task for opposing comprehensive immigration reform legislation after former GOP President Donald Trump spoke out against the bill.
But Kemp said Biden could shut down the U.S. border at any time without waiting for congressional action.
“To me, the buck stops with him,” Kemp said. “He knows what he can do. … He shouldn’t blame this on Congress.”
Kemp said the 15 to 20 Georgia National Guard troopers he plans to send to Texas this spring will include those with engineering and mechanical backgrounds. They will help build a forward command post on the Texas border with Mexico.
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