Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is reportedly “poised to offer aid to his Texas counterpart’s effort to control illegal crossings on the US-Mexico border.” News reports characterize Greg Abbott as “pursuing a showdown with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement for months now.”
“Kemp scheduled an announcement for Tuesday afternoon as both chambers of Georgia’s Republican-led Legislature push through identically worded resolutions condemning Joe Biden‘s border policy.” The Georgia Senate voted 31-15 for its resolution Monday, and a House committee approved its version Friday.
“The measures are progressing in an election year not only for the president but for all of Georgia’s 236 legislative seats as well.”
Governor Kemp has options. The Governor “could choose to send more Georgia National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border in Texas. He deployed troops there in 2019.” Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Kemp, said 29 guard members remain deployed performing missions that include aerial surveillance.
The “partisan resolutions” were accompanied by Republican talking points that “characterized anyone who crosses the border illegally as a criminal claiming that many are drug traffickers or potential terrorists.” Several Georgia Republicans made clear in debate Monday that they wanted “a return to Trump’s specific border policies.”
Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch said: “We’re condemning President Biden that he took back and did a reversal in regard to what President Trump passed into law by executive order. What we’ve said is we want that executive order reinstated.” Gooch added: “We’re not going to pass a bill today that is going to move the needle in a large way. What we are going to do today is take a position on this issue.”
Governor Kemp was one of 13 Republican governors who joined Abbott at Eagle Pass, Texas, on February 4. “Abbott has been locked in a standoff with the Biden administration after the state began denying access to US Border Patrol agents at a park on the edge of the Rio Grande in the Texas border town.” Kemp, who reporting describes as having “a history of conflict with former President Donald Trump,” continues to keep his distance from the Republican frontrunner while backing other Republicans and opposing Biden.”
