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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the creation of a task force including 25 other conservative governors that will aim to deter criminal activity at the border, including cartel drug trade and human trafficking. The complete list of governors is on the second slide.
The memorandum points to Biden's border policy as a point of contention for the crisis these governors are facing. They have not been given the resources necessary to secure their portion of the border. The hope is that the task force will increase collaboration, improve intelligence, further investment into analytics, combatting human smuggling, and slow drug flow into the United States from across the southern border. The group of states will work together to ensure that any resources that the government does not subsidize to secure the border will then be available due to the task force.
State governments, also referred to as 'party states' in the document, will be required to formulate a plan for collaboration with other party states. Some programs include reviewing statistics to trace better crimes that stem from the southern border, reviewing states' crime-fighting strategies, developing interstate procedures to handle 'dead zones better,' and assisting with sharing information between party states.
States are allowed to request help from any members of the Task Force, either verbally or written. If the request is made verbally, a written notice must be sent to the designated representative of that state within 30 days.
QUICK FACT:
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 5,400 pounds
of heroin, 97,000 pounds of cocaine, 190,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 11,200 pounds of fentanyl, and many counterfeit pills or other drugs interdicted crossing our Southern Border in the 2021 fiscal year.
SOURCES:
AMERICAN GOVERNORS’ BORDER STRIKE FORCE
(FULL DOCUMENT)
26 Republican Governors Announce Creation of American Governors’ Border Strike Force
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