Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds joined nine other governors on a trip to America’s southern border. She hosted a press conference with Iowa media Wednesday afternoon.
Reynolds said she is in McAllen, Texas and started the day with a briefing from the president of the border patrol. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the director of the department of public safety also presented information. The group toured the Rio Grande with Texas state patrol in an effort to understand what they do when patrolling the border.
Sixteen days have passed since 26 governors sent President Joe Biden a letter asking for a meeting to discuss what was happening at the border.
“To date, we have not even had an acknowledgment or any response,” Reynolds said. “So the governors decided to get together and discuss what the federal government needs to do to stop the crisis at the border.”
The group of governors put together 10 policies to “protect America, restore security and end the crisis.”
*Continue Title 42 public health restrictions
*Fully reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols
*Finish securing the border
*End catch and release
*Clear the judicial backlog
*Resume the deportation of all criminals
*Dedicate federal resources to eradicate human trafficking and drug trafficking
*Re-enter all agreements with our Northern Triangle partners and Mexico
*Send a clear message to potential migrants
*Deploy more federal law enforcement officers
“When it comes to securing the border, protecting America and ending the crisis that we’re seeing at the southern border, we’ve laid out 10 very simple policy solutions that the President could implement tomorrow,” Reynolds said. “It doesn’t take an act of Congress.”
Reynolds said America is experiencing “dangerous levels” of drug trafficking at the border.
“It’s unconscionable what they’re seeing come across this border,” she said. “The President has a constitutional responsibility to protect the border and to protect Americans. He is not doing that.”
Reynolds noted that 18 percent of migrant families crossing the border are testing positive for COVID. Twenty percent of unaccompanied children are testing positive. There have been 40,000 total positive cases, she said.
If Biden continues to do nothing, Reynolds predicted something “two to three to four” times what was seen under the bridge in Del Rio a couple of weeks ago.
