Another Republican Governor Sends National Guard To Southern Border

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has joined several other Republican governors in sending National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to help stem the flow of illegal aliens into the United States.

In a press release, Ivey announced that Alabama would be sending 275 National Guardsmen to the southern border. This is the third time that Ivey has sent troops to the border — with the first two instances being in 2018 and 2021.

“Every state has become a border state under the current policies, and Alabama remains committed to being an integral part of the mission to protect our Southern Border,” Ivey said. “The Alabama National Guard always stands ready to protect our citizens, and I thank our 275 troops, as well as their families, for their important service to our country.”

Several other Republican governors have also sent their National Guard troops to the southern border amid the crisis caused by President Joe Biden’s open-border policies. In 2021, Ohio sent 185 troops. In May 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) sent 800 troops to the border in Texas. At the end of May 2023 into early June, National Guard troops were sent to the border by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R). The Republican governors of Oklahoma, West Virginia and Nebraska also sent troops to the border in July 2023.

These governors were among a group of 25 Republican governors that sent a strong letter to Biden about the border crisis last month.

“The crisis at the southern border extends to every state,” they wrote in the letter dated September 19. “As a result of your policies which incentivize illegal immigration, our states are carrying the burden of both the years-long surge in illegal border crossings and cartels’ coordinated trafficking of drugs and human beings. States are on the front lines, working around-the-clock responding to the effects of this crisis: shelters are full, food pantries empty, law enforcement strained, and aid workers exhausted. As governors, we call on you to provide honest, accurate, detailed information on where the migrants admitted at the southern border are being relocated in the United States, in addition to comprehensive data on asylum claim timelines and qualification rates, and successful deportations.”

“Your administration can no longer ignore simple facts that threaten our citizens’ public safety and strain their public resources,” the letter continued. “Since you have taken office, there have been over 5.8 million illegal crossings at the southern border. In addition, your Customs and Border Protection agency estimates 1.6 million crossers have evaded apprehension. Even illegal crossings at the northern border have increased exponentially under your administration, in some areas by nearly 850%. In the past two years, 244 people on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the southern border—an all-time record. Absent transparency from your administration, though, we cannot know how many terrorists have evaded capture and are now freely moving about the country.”