Border Security A Top-Of-List Priority At National Governors Association Meeting

The nation's governors have a lot to talk about as the National Governors Association holds its annual winter meeting, but for many of them, especially Republican governors, border security, or the lack of it, is at the very top of the list.

In an interview Friday morning, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said there is no bigger federal issue right now for him and his colleagues than securing the southern border.

"This is a weird time," Gov. Stitt said, "when we’re now having 10 million people come into the country illegally."

Indeed, record numbers of migrants have unlawfully crossed the border between ports of entry since President Biden took office just over three years ago.

As of last month (January 2024), the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute put the actual number at about 6.3 million, with about 2.4 million of those actually allowed into the country.

Add in the number of known 'gotaways', 1.7 million, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and the numbers are enough, Stitt says, that it's not just President Biden's critics who are voicing concern.

"Even the Democrat governors are saying we need to have a secure border," Stitt explained.

The Governor, of course, is aware that Oklahoma Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a staunch advocate for border security, just spent months negotiating legislation he believed would secure the border, only to see fellow Republicans in the Senate kill it two weeks ago.

"The DC politics, I don’t understand what happens with the Senate (Republican) caucus and why that bill fell apart," Stitt admitted, "but I do know that the President has the tools he needs to secure the border, 100 percent."

At a White House reception for the governors today, President Biden spoke about the new sanctions he's imposing on Russia and didn't raise the border issue, although he is now reportedly considering taking executive actions to turn more migrants away.

Stitt says Biden caused the problem, he can fix it, and should, especially with the current dysfunction on Capitol Hill. He says governors from all states are calling on him to do so.

"There are times when we really can lead as governors," Stitt said, "and there’s not so much of that right now in Congress."

The House did pass border security legislation last year. H.R. 2, but, unlike Lankford's bill, it was very partisan and never had even a chance of becoming law