States launch ‘border strike force’ to challenge Biden on lack of enforcement

By Casey Harper | The Center Square

President Joe Biden has faced heavy criticism over the surge in illegal immigration since he took office, and now a coalition of states has formed to challenge the president on the issue.

So far, 26 governors have signed on to the creation of the “Border Strike Force,” a coalition of state leaders working together to fight Mexican cartels and to slow the massive spike in illegal immigration since early last year.

“What happens at our nation’s Southern Border impacts every single community in America,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who recently joined the coalition. “While President Biden largely ignores my colleagues and my proposals to secure our border and protect our communities, we are going to continue to be proactive in addressing these pressing issues. … Our ultimate goal is to improve public safety, protect victims from horrific crimes, reduce the amount of drugs in our communities, and alleviate the humanitarian crisis at the Southern Border.”

The move comes after the Biden administration’s decision to lift Title 42, a Trump-era immigration rule that allowed border agents to more easily expel illegal immigrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 into the U.S.

Critics argue that after Title 42 is lifted, there will be an additional surge of illegal immigrants crossing the border. At least 50 members of the U.S House of Representatives have signed onto a legal challenge to Biden’s decision to lift the rule.

“It is beyond dispute that terminating the previous Title 42 policies will cause an overwhelming migrant surge and intensify the border crisis. Even CDC admits the obvious: the Termination Decision ‘will lead to an increase in the number of noncitizens being processed in DHS facilities,’” the Texas Public Policy Foundation said in a brief supporting the legal challenge. “Moreover, the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis anticipates that one million migrants could cross the southern border within the first six weeks of the Termination Decision’s effective date. CBP cannot handle the current level of illegal border entries and will certainly be incapable of dealing with a further surge.

“A senior Border Patrol official has warned that, within just ‘a few days’ of the termination of Title 42 policies, CBP will reach capacity and ‘will be forced to release subjects on the street,’ which will lead to continued surges of migrants,” the brief adds.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has acknowledged there will be an increase in illegal immigration because of the removal of Title 42.

The states signed on so far include Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Some states have already sent National Guard troops to help secure the border.

“President Biden has failed to secure the border, so Republican Governors are launching a Border Strike Force to secure our communities,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said. “South Dakota has sent National Guard to the border. We will continue partnering with other states to protect our people.”

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