Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and eight other GOP governors on Wednesday toured the U.S. Southern border and presented a 10-point plan for President Joe Biden to strengthen the border.
The conference of GOP governors follows Biden ignoring a letter from the group, which requested a meeting to discuss solutions to the ongoing crisis.
“Governors are not going to sit around while President Biden refuses to act,” said Governor Ducey. “We’ve tried to meet with the president and be part of the solution, but he refuses. No, worse — he ignores governors, just like he’s ignoring the border and the safety of the American people.”
The comprehensive plan calls on Biden to take a series of actions, including finishing construction of the border wall:
- Continue Title 42 Public Health Restrictions
- Dedicate Federal Resources to Eradicate Human Trafficking and Drug Trafficking
- Resume the Deportation of all Criminals
- Re-enter All Agreements with our Northern Triangle Partners and Mexico
- Provide Notice and Transparency To States on Unaccompanied Minors and Migrants
- Send A Clear Message to Potential Migrants
- Deploy More Federal Law Enforcement Officers and National Guard Troops
- End “Catch and Release” and Clear the Judicial Backlog
- Fully Reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols
- Finish Securing the Border
The leaders argue these actions will reduce the current surge of migrants that have crossed the border illegally. In August alone, there were 208,887 migrant encounters, a 317% increase from last August.
“The White House has suggested there are no solutions or steps they could take on the border. This is false,” Governor Ducey said. “If the president won’t meet, we have laid out a comprehensive set of policy actions — publicly — that would end the border crisis immediately. President Biden now has everything he needs to stop this crisis.”
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
