Republican Governors Join Forces to Tackle Drug Cartel Threat

Over two dozen Republican governors are uniting against a cartel threat they argue is a result of the Biden administration’s “disastrous” border policies.

American Governors’ Border Strike Force, which is composed of 26 Republican governors from across the country, will share information and law enforcement tools in combating crime stemming from the border, according to a memo.

Migrants encountered at the southern border have exceeded 1 million so far for fiscal year 2022 and the surge is leading to more crime entering the U.S., the governors argue in the memo. In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol agents have arrested 4,751 with criminal convictions.

“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 record-breaking number of apprehensions at the Southern Border,” the memo stated.

Signatories to the strike force don’t just include governors from border states, but also governors like Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota’s Kristi Noem and Iowa’s Kim Reynolds.

“Every state is a border state, dealing with the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into states across America,” the Republican Governors Association said in a statement.

Each state will fund its own efforts as part of the joint operation, according to the memo.