MONTGOMERY-Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday announced Alabama is deploying 275 Alabama National Guard soldiers to address the ongoing crisis at the Southern Border.
Governor Ivey also issued the following statement:
“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. 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.” – Governor Kay Ivey
Throughout her tenure, the governor has offered the support of the Alabama National Guard by deploying both soldiers and equipment. Governor Ivey also recently joined her Republican colleagues in a letter to President Joe Biden emphasizing the tremendous burden the current policies are putting on all states. The letter from the governors is attached.
Media Release/Office of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
The crisis at the southern border extends to every state. 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. We ask for
this information immediately, but also regularly as the crisis at the southern border continues.
Your administration can no longer ignore simple facts that threaten our citizens’ public safety and strain their
public resources. 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. Your administration admitted under oath to Congress that cartels prioritize the southern border as a
major corridor and exploit it daily for human and narcotics trafficking. Our country cannot tolerate 100,000
deaths every year from a fentanyl crisis fueled by cartels pouring the fatal drug into our communities, nor can
it tolerate the horrors of human trafficking and the lifelong scars it leaves on victims.
Though we remain committed to addressing these issues, States cannot afford to respond to a challenge of such
magnitude while the federal government continues to turn a blind eye. Analysts estimate the annual net cost of
illegal immigration for the United States at the federal, state, and local levels is at least $150.7 billion. States
are forced to provide financial, educational, and medical support to migrants entering our country illegally–
support that is skyrocketing in cost due to record inflation and the unprecedented influx of migrants into our
states. The financial impact on the states is staggering, and it is our hardworking citizens who shoulder that
burden.
This is not a partisan issue. Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated, “This is not a New York City
problem. This is a national problem….[Funding for the influx of migrants to New York City is] going to come
from our schools’ services. It’s going to come from our streets. It’s going to come from what we provide to
children.” Our fellow governor, Democrat Maura Healey of Massachusetts, declared a state of emergency due
to the number of migrants in her state, and described the federal government’s mismanagement of immigration
as “a federal crisis of inaction.”
As we have made clear repeatedly, every state is now a border state.
As governors, we call on you and your administration to relay immediately accurate, detailed, thorough data
and information to the states about who is crossing the southern border illegally, where they are relocating,
how the federal government is processing their asylum applications, and whether they are being deported
successfully. Without such information, we cannot fulfill our fundamental duties to protect our citizens while
providing our communities with appropriate services.
Sincerely,
Governor Greg Gianforte
State of Montana
Governor Kay Ivey
State of Alabama
Governor Mike Dunleavy
State of Alaska
Governor Sarah Sanders
State of Arkansas
Governor Ron DeSantis
State of Florida
Governor Brian Kemp
State of Georgia
Governor Brad Little
State of Idaho
Governor Eric Holcomb
State of Indiana
Governor Kim Reynolds
State of Iowa
Governor Tate Reeves
State of Mississippi
Governor Mike Parson
State of Missouri
Governor Jim Pillen
State of Nebraska
Governor Joe Lombardo
State of Nevada
Governor Chris Sununu
State of New Hampshire
Governor Doug Burgum
State of North Dakota
Governor Mike DeWine
State of Ohio
Governor Kristi Noem
State of South Dakota
Governor Spencer Cox
State of Utah
Governor Mark Gordon
State of Wyoming
Governor Kevin Stitt
State of Oklahoma
Governor Bill Lee
State of Tennessee
Governor Glenn Youngkin
Commonwealth of Virginia
Governor Henry McMaster
State of South Carolina
Governor Greg Abbott
State of Texas
Governor Jim Justice
State of West Virginia
