Fresh off her weekend visit to the border, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds detailed the crisis facing America and how she plans to help Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defend the country.
Reynolds noted the border crisis began on President Joe Biden’s first day in office when he reversed “common sense border policies that kept our country safe.”
“And he never looked back,” Reynolds said. “More than 7 million illegal migrants have been apprehended at the southern border. That’s more than the population of 33 different states.”
That includes 169 individuals named on the terror watch list who have been arrested. There have been 1.7 million known getaways, though the likely number is 30 percent higher than what is known.
“The reality is we don’t know who is entering our country, but we know what they’re capable of,” Reynolds said.
In Texas, there has been a 1,227 percent increase in fentanyl seizures, a 315 percent increase in drug overdose deaths and a 288 percent increase in human trafficking investigations.
“That is why Gov. Abbott has stepped up to defend his state, his people and truly our nation,” Reynolds said. “For three years Texas has been on the front line of the most serious national security and humanitarian crisis of our time. And Gov. Abbott has led the response.”
Reynolds said the Biden Administration has refused to enforce federal laws already on the books. While the law currently commands federal officials to detain aliens and ban mass entry of aliens into the country — allowing parole only on a case-by-case basis, Biden is “rolling out the welcome mat to anyone, for any reason.”
“(Biden is) abandoning his constitutional duty to protect our country and defend its citizens,” Reynolds said. “Having no option but to protect itself, Texas is enforcing the law by denying illegal entry and detaining those who attempt it.”
Abbott has used water buoys in the Rio Grande River to prevent migrants from crossing dangerous river crossings. Razor wire barriers are also being utilized to stop illegal entry.
“Instead, migrants can be redirected to the nearby legal ports of entry,” Reynolds said. “And these tactics alone that Texas has put in place has resulted in a 79% decrease in traffic at Eagle Pass.”
While Texas is effectively slowing the surge of illegal aliens, Reynolds said it cannot manage the national crisis on behalf of the federal government while also going into legal battles.
“It is why Iowa has supported Operation Lonestar on three separate initiatives,” Reynolds said. “Every state is a border state and Iowa is no exception. The effects that Texas has been experiencing for three years are now a reality here at home.”
In 2023, the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Narcotic Enforcement seized more than 83,000 fentanyl tablets, more than 1,000 pounds of meth, 800 pounds of marijuana and 165 pounds of cocaine.
“Twenty-six of the narcotics cases that they investigated had a direct link to the Mexican cartels,” Reynolds said.
In addition, Iowa arrested two Chinese nationals on Feb. 1 with conspiracy to commit theft in the first degree. It is believed one of those individuals entered America illegally at the southern border months before his arrest.
“Iowa is 1,000 miles from where I was standing yesterday afternoon,” Reynolds said. “But yet the border is now in our backyard.”
With Interstate-35 having a direct route for the drug cartels and human traffickers from Mexico to Iowa and the midwest, Reynolds said if we want the crisis to end, we have to help stop it.
“Because the President won’t and hasn’t,” she said. “The federal government won’t and hasn’t. Both have ignored it for more than three years.”
Reynolds said the Iowa National Guard and Department of Public Safety will be preparing for a return mission to the border. She also let Gov. Abbott know Iowa is ready to support the operation again.
Dates and details, however, are yet to be determined.
Federal ARPA funds will cover mission expenses. The Iowa National Guard and DPS missions in August and September of last year totaled approximately $2.1 million and were paid from those same funds.
“If the federal government won’t do the job protecting Americans, the state will step in,” Reynolds said. “I appreciate my Republican colleagues for joining me in support of justice.”
