Reynolds dips into Biden COVID-19 relief funds to send National Guard to southern border
Misty Severi
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Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) is using funds from a COVID-19 relief package in order to send National Guard troops to the United States’s southern border with Mexico, the governor’s office said Wednesday.
A total of 109 Iowa National Guardsmen were deployed to Texas as part of the state’s border security plan, Operation Lone Star. But funds to deploy the guards stem from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which was signed in 2021.
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“All costs will be covered by federal funding allocated to Iowa from the American Rescue Plan,” Reynolds’s office said in a press release. “States are given flexibility in how this funding can be used provided it supports the provision of government services.”
Reynolds slammed the president for not securing the southern border since coming into office, claiming the administration failed the public and “created one of the most significant national security and humanitarian crises of our generation.”
“Since the administration refuses to invest in securing the border and protecting its citizens, Texas has asked other states to help, and Iowa is ready and willing to assist,” Reynolds said. “Iowa is deploying National Guard troops and personnel from the Department of Public Safety to protect the citizens and interests of our state by supporting Operation Lone Star and helping secure the U.S. Southern border.”
The deployment will last until Sept. 1, 2023, with the mission of stopping illegal border crossings and stemming the flow of illegal substances trafficked by cartels through Texas. It is the third guard deployment to the border since 2020.
Iowa will also send a group of state patrol officers through the state’s Department of Public Safety on Aug. 31, 2023, to replace the guards. They will help the state with criminal interdiction, crime prevention, traffic enforcement, and law enforcement assistance, and will remain in Texas until Oct. 2, 2023.
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At least 14 Republican governors have ordered a total of 1,400 National Guard troops to the border since March, including the governors of Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Nebraska, who deployed troops this week.
It comes as the Pentagon prepares to withdraw 1,100 troops from the border at the conclusion of a 90-day temporary deployment to assist with an expected immigration surge. The 1,100 troops will return to their bases on Aug. 8, but an additional 400 troops will remain through Aug. 31, 2023.