Gov. Kim Reynolds had a rare news conference on Monday. It was in Eagle Point, Texas. But, hey, progress!
Reynolds was near the Texas-Mexico border after sending 109 Iowa National Guard troops there as part of Operation Lone Star. She was joined by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.
It’s the third time Reynolds has sent the guard to the border. Noem once sent South Dakota guard members to the border, paid for by a campaign donor. Abbott has joined with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hilarious prank — sending migrants seeking asylum to cities run by Democrats. Earlier this month a 3-year-old died on a bus from Texas to Chicago. What’s the punch line, Gov. Abbott?
Abbott has also installed buoys in the Rio Grande equipped with what look like saw blades. Classic.
Reynolds told reporters every state is now a border state thanks to the inflow of fentanyl from Mexico. She said the Biden administration is “hell bent” on destroying the country.
As for fentanyl, NPR reported earlier this month, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, that 90 percent of fentanyl seized is at official border crossings, with nearly all of it smuggled by people who can legally cross the border, including Americans.
“Virtually none is smuggled by migrants seeking asylum,” NPR reported.
But you can’t let facts get in the way of demonizing asylum-seekers and other immigrants. By the way, any immigrant who reaches U.S. soil can legally seek asylum. That’s the law.
President Joe Biden also sent U.S. troops to the border in May in anticipation of the court-ordered end of title 42, the rule that kept immigrants out of the U.S. during the pandemic.
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"Boots on the ground are an important part of how you secure the border. However, under Joe Biden, the 1,500 troops he’s sending will accomplish nothing to secure the border,” Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said.
Biden’s immigration failures are fair game. But Republicans’ main immigration policy position is building Donald Trump’s wall. Iowa Republicans love walls.
They built legislative walls around public schools, insisting they’re liberal indoctrination centers with pornographic books in their libraries. They built walls around transgender kids by portraying them a threat and sanctioning discrimination. They built walls around the teaching true history, books they object to and mentioning the lives of LGBTQ Iowans.
Whatever makes conservatives uncomfortable, they can always build a wall.
All the lip service about migrant deaths and a humanitarian crisis is undermined by repeated attempts by Reynolds and other Republicans to portray these migrants as less than human. Instead of families fleeing horrible places filled with violence and poverty, they’re criminal drug mules. Leaving them to languish in Mexico is apparently their humanitarian solution. Migrant kids are “not our problem.”
Of course, border security is important. But instead of scaring us, Republicans might work on immigration reforms. But most Republicans don’t want reform. They want a potent issue to use against their political foes.
Fear is all they’ve got. And walls.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Reynolds was near the Texas-Mexico border after sending 109 Iowa National Guard troops there as part of Operation Lone Star. She was joined by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.
It’s the third time Reynolds has sent the guard to the border. Noem once sent South Dakota guard members to the border, paid for by a campaign donor. Abbott has joined with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hilarious prank — sending migrants seeking asylum to cities run by Democrats. Earlier this month a 3-year-old died on a bus from Texas to Chicago. What’s the punch line, Gov. Abbott?
Abbott has also installed buoys in the Rio Grande equipped with what look like saw blades. Classic.
Reynolds told reporters every state is now a border state thanks to the inflow of fentanyl from Mexico. She said the Biden administration is “hell bent” on destroying the country.
As for fentanyl, NPR reported earlier this month, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, that 90 percent of fentanyl seized is at official border crossings, with nearly all of it smuggled by people who can legally cross the border, including Americans.
“Virtually none is smuggled by migrants seeking asylum,” NPR reported.
But you can’t let facts get in the way of demonizing asylum-seekers and other immigrants. By the way, any immigrant who reaches U.S. soil can legally seek asylum. That’s the law.
President Joe Biden also sent U.S. troops to the border in May in anticipation of the court-ordered end of title 42, the rule that kept immigrants out of the U.S. during the pandemic.
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"Boots on the ground are an important part of how you secure the border. However, under Joe Biden, the 1,500 troops he’s sending will accomplish nothing to secure the border,” Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said.
Biden’s immigration failures are fair game. But Republicans’ main immigration policy position is building Donald Trump’s wall. Iowa Republicans love walls.
They built legislative walls around public schools, insisting they’re liberal indoctrination centers with pornographic books in their libraries. They built walls around transgender kids by portraying them a threat and sanctioning discrimination. They built walls around the teaching true history, books they object to and mentioning the lives of LGBTQ Iowans.
Whatever makes conservatives uncomfortable, they can always build a wall.
All the lip service about migrant deaths and a humanitarian crisis is undermined by repeated attempts by Reynolds and other Republicans to portray these migrants as less than human. Instead of families fleeing horrible places filled with violence and poverty, they’re criminal drug mules. Leaving them to languish in Mexico is apparently their humanitarian solution. Migrant kids are “not our problem.”
Of course, border security is important. But instead of scaring us, Republicans might work on immigration reforms. But most Republicans don’t want reform. They want a potent issue to use against their political foes.
Fear is all they’ve got. And walls.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Gov. Reynolds and Iowa Republicans love walls
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, left, listen as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, center, speaks during …
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