(The Center Square) – Support of Texas’ fight along America’s southern border is being urged in a letter led by New York’s highest-ranking woman in the Republican conference of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., leads eight of nine New York Republican lawmakers in the House calling on Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to join 25 governors pledging support to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to secure the Mexican border amid a historic surge of asylum seekers.
The letter led by Stefanik says, in part, President Joe Biden’s “failure” to stem the wave of migrants into the country has “shattered the constitutional covenant between the federal government and states” with more than 8 million “illegal crossings” reported since the Democrat took office in 2021.
“He has turned every state into a border state and every community into a border community,” the lawmakers wrote. “As an all-time high number of illegal immigrants cross our borders and bleed into New York, your refusal to reverse course has created an unsustainable environment that is taking a financial and humanitarian toll on the state.”
Republican Reps. Nick Langworthy, Nicole Malliotakis, Brandon Williams, Claudia Tenney, Nick LaLota, Marc Molinaro, Michael Lawler, and Anthony D’Esposito all signed the letter. No Democrats in the House signed the letter, nor did New York Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino. Signatures of New York’s Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are also absent.
Stefanik, 39, is one of several mentioned as a potential running mate to former President Donald Trump, the overwhelming leader to earn a third consecutive nomination when the Republican National Convention convenes in Milwaukee on July 15-18.
In a separate statement, Stefanik said Hochul has an opportunity to support Abbott “as he works tirelessly to secure Texas’s border and secure our country from this invasion Joe Biden has unforgivably encouraged.”
“Far Left Kathy Hochul has openly admitted that New York taxpayers cannot afford to continue subsidizing the illegal immigrants pouring in through our borders because of Joe Biden’s disastrous open border policies,” she said.
The lawmakers asked Hochul how she plans to respond to the ongoing migrant crisis, and whether she is taking steps to secure New York’s northern border with Canada, which has also seen an increase in migrant crossings.
New York City has spent an estimated $1 billion on housing and other essential needs for tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived in the state over the past year. Its mayor projects more than $10 billion in the next couple of years.
Abbott called up thousands of National Guard members and positioned them at the border as part of his border security mission, Operation Lone Star. Republican governors have pledged support for Abbott’s efforts, and some have deployed National Guard troops to help Texas “secure” the border.
