MONTGOMERY — Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced her decision to join the American Governors’ Border Strike Force. The Governors’ Border Strike Force is made up of 26 states and will coordinate efforts in deterring illegal immigration on the Southern Border.

“With the crisis on our Southern Border escalating by the day, and the total absence of leadership coming from the Biden-Harris Administration, forming this strike force is paramount in protecting our national security,” said Governor Ivey. “Last year, illegal border crossings surged to a 20-year high, which also means we have dangerous drugs flowing into our country. Here in Alabama, we’re going to enforce the law, and I’m proud to join my fellow governors on this mission to protect our states and nation. We will continue doing all we can here in Alabama to protect our border and our citizens.”

Member states of the American Governors’ Border Strike Force include: Alabama, Arizona, Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Since taking office, Governor Ivey has worked tirelessly to fight illegal immigration. In 2021, Governor Ivey sent hundreds of active-duty Alabama National Guard troops, as well as equipment to the southern border to continue this mission. She also signed an agreement with the Trump Administration to fight illegal immigration, and as governor, has kept Alabama from being a sanctuary state.

                                                               AMERICAN GOVERNORS’ BORDER STRIKE FORCE 

OVERVIEW

The Problem

Due to President Biden’s disastrous border policies, dangerous transnational criminal organizations continue flooding our communities with drugs while reaping billions of dollars from human smuggling and causing a recordbreaking number of apprehensions at the Southern Border.

The Solution

In the absence of federal leadership, states are partnering together to create the American Governors’ Border Strike Force to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations by increasing collaboration, improving intelligence, investing in analysis, combating human smuggling, and stopping drug flow in our states. By partnering across state lines, governors can serve as a force multiplier to target cartels and criminal networks financially and operationally. Together, governors will 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 Border Strike Force will coordinate states’ efforts to:

Partner at the state fusion center level to disrupt and dismantle cartels:

• Share criminal justice information to improve investigations in the border region and nationwide, especially in communities adjacent to or crossing state boundaries.
• Coordinate and improve interdiction on interstates to combat drug trafficking and human smuggling.
• Co-locate intelligence analysts in border states to improve collaboration, real time response, intelligence sharing, and analysis connected to border security.
• Assist border states with supplemental staff and resources at state fusion centers, such as on rotation assignments, to share information obtained both on the border and in other states.
• Send law enforcement to train in border states to detect, track, and curb border-related crime.

Focus state law enforcement efforts to disrupt and dismantle cartels:

• Target cartel finances that fund criminal activity in the border regions to seize the tools used to assist the cartels.
• Monitor cybersecurity issues that may increase vulnerability along the Southern Border, such as criminal networks that operate on social media to recruit traffickers.
• Review state criminal statutes regarding human trafficking, drug trafficking, and transnational criminal organizations to ensure the laws deter, disrupt, and dismantle criminal activity.
• Review state criminal justice statistics and information to determine crimes that can be traced to the Southern Border.
• Develop interstate procedures to fill any identified gaps or identified inconsistencies in existing plans to address border crime.

The American Governors’ Border Strike Force is a partnership across state lines  to accomplish what the federal government has failed to do:

 Protect our communities from ruthless transnational criminal organizations.

  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

BETWEEN THE GOVERNORS OF THE STATES OF ARIZONA, TEXAS, ALABAMA, ALASKA,

ARKANSAS, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, IDAHO, INDIANA, IOWA, MARYLAND, MISSISSIPPI,

MISSOURI, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO,

OKLAHOMA, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, UTAH, VIRGINIA,

WEST VIRGINIA, AND WYOMING TO FORM

AMERICAN GOVERNORS’ BORDER STRIKE FORCE

WHEREAS, since 2021, the Southern Border of the United States has seen a major increase in border

crossings by illegal immigrants, leading to a record-breaking number of apprehensions; and

WHEREAS, illegal border crossings lead to more drugs entering the country, more dangerous  individuals

evading arrest, and more victims of human trafficking; and

WHEREAS, criminal organizations on both sides of the border are profiting off of illegal immigrants through

extortion and trafficking; and

WHEREAS, the porousness of the Southern Border is an open door to transnational criminal organizations that use it to traffic drugs that feed the addiction epidemic throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, in Fiscal Year 2021, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 5,400 pounds of heroin, 97,000 pounds of cocaine, 190,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 11,200 pounds of fentanyl, and many counterfeit pills or other drugs interdicted crossing our Southern Border; and

WHEREAS, the drugs that are not intercepted are trafficked from the Southern Border along U.S.

interstates and into our neighborhoods throughout the country, both in large cities and in small towns; and

WHEREAS, transnational criminal networks are now recruiting American teens and young adults to participate in their criminal activity; and

WHEREAS, the states, through the adoption of the United States Constitution, created the federal government to protect the states from those outside our borders that seek to harm our country and its people; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has inexplicably failed to complete the border wall, which would be a

major impediment to those crossing the border illegally; and

WHEREAS, in the absence of the federal government, the states have spent billions of dollars to protect their citizens from threats caused by the federal government’s failure to protect the states from a breach of the Southern Border; and

WHEREAS, the federal government’s neglect of its duty has forced the states to take actions to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens and to join together at times to protect their collective interests.

NOW, THEREFORE, as governors of their respective states, the signatories of this agreement hereby agree to the following provisions:

1. Article I – GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. This agreement is made and entered into by and between the participating member governors on behalf of their states, hereinafter called party states.
2. The purpose of this agreement is to provide for cooperative effort and mutual assistance in the prevention of crime and in the enforcement ofthe party states’ respective criminal laws and policies related to drug trafficking, human trafficking, transnational criminal organizations, and other border-related crimes.
3. This agreement shall also provide for mutual cooperation in training exercises or other training activities using equipment and personnel simulating performance of any aspect of the giving and receiving of aid by party states or subdivisions of party states.

2. Article II – GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION

1. Each party state entering into this agreement recognizes the effects of illegal immigration due to drug trafficking, human trafficking, and other crimes that result from our porous Southern Border.
2. Each party state further recognizes that due to the federal government’s failure to effectively address the crisis on our Southern Border, it is necessary for the states to come together to share information, cooperate amongst law enforcement, and coordinate training to protect themselves from the effects of illegal immigration.
3. On behalf of the governor of each state participating in the agreement, the legally designated state official who is the top law enforcement executive or director, commissioner, or colonel of the respective state police agency as determined by each governor will be responsible for formulation of the appropriate interstate mutual aid plans and procedures necessary to implement this agreement.

3. Article III – PARTY STATE RESPONSIBILITIES

1. It shall be the responsibility of each party state to formulate procedural plans and programs for interstate cooperation in the performance of the responsibilities listed in this article. In formulating such plans and in carrying them out, the party states, insofar as practical, shall:
   1. Review individual state criminal justice statistics and information to determine those crimes that can be traced to the Southern Border.
   2. Review party states’ individual strategies for crime fighting.

• Develop interstate procedures to fill any identified gaps and to resolve any

Media Release/Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Press Office