The government of Louisiana announced that it would send 150 National Guard soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border amid the ongoing disagreement between the Biden administration and Texas over the deployment of razor wire. The deployment also came after 2023 saw the highest level of attempted migrant crossings in American history.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) announced the deployment on Thursday. He cited the Biden administration’s actions in his decision.
“Because the federal government will not act, because the president will not do his job, because Congress refuses to put into place a solid immigration plan that protects this country and allows people to come in and out of this country the way it has been done since the beginning, then the states are going to act,” he said.
Texas and the Biden administration continued their standoff regarding the use of razor wire to prevent migrants from entering the state. Texas also made entering the state illegally into a state crime.
Landry said that Washington had “dog-whistled those who are trying to come into the country illegally by saying, ’Listen, if you swim across the Rio Grande we will let you in that way.’”
Pres. Biden’s failed border policies have wreaked havoc in every corner of our country, including Louisiana.
According to one estimate, Louisianians pay an additional $4,613 PER illegal migrant—that’s about $604 MILLION per year—in state taxes because of illegal immigration. pic.twitter.com/E1206yKYoB
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) January 25, 2024
The increased tension over the flow of illegal immigrants followed the attempted entry of more than three million migrants into the country last year, the highest on record. This included more than 300,000 in December 2023, the highest monthly total on record.
A number of states have taken increased action against the flow of migrants. Texas, Arizona and Florida have all sent migrants to other parts of the country. Since 2022, more than 170,000 illegal aliens arrived in New York City, seriously straining the city’s budget and resources.
The increase of migrants in New York and Chicago has prompted a number of protests, including against migrant resettlement. Some of the shelters in New York have become full and the city has started to send migrants to a former airfield. This included closing a high school to transfer migrants from the airfield to the school due to cold weather.
