Ohio becomes the SIXTH state to send reinforcements to the border in response to Biden's crisis: Republican Gov. Mike DeWine mobilizes 185 Army National Guard members to join Florida, Arkansas and South Dakota

  • Mike DeWine became the sixth GOP governor to send reinforcements to help secure the southern border 
  • He announced Friday that 185 Ohio Army National Guard soldiers will deploy 
  • Joins South Dakota, Florida, Arkansas, Iowa and Nebraska 
  • Immigration activists claim Republicans are conducting an 'insurrection' by sending law enforcement and National Guard to the border
  • Only 33% of American adults approve of Joe Biden's handling of the border crisis and 51% think the president is not handling it well, a new poll shows 

Ohio's Mike DeWine became the sixth GOP governor to send reinforcements to help secure the southern border as he announced 185 National Guard will deploy

Ohio's Mike DeWine became the sixth GOP governor to send reinforcements to help secure the southern border as he announced 185 National Guard will deploy

Ohio became the latest state to send in reinforcements to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border as Republican governors claim Joe Biden is failing in his effort to address the border crisis.

Governor Mike DeWine announced Friday he is mobilizing 185 members of the Ohio Army National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security and National Guard Bureau to help support efforts at the border.

The announcement comes after five other states with Republican governors have already committed to sending law enforcement and National Guard to assist in the prevailing crisis.

South Dakota, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas have already announced they are sending in reinforcements.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, both Republicans, asked every state to send law enforcement to help secure the border. They also requested the officials assist in making arrests of migrants who illegally crossed the border.

The move to send reinforcements to the border comes as the GOP ramps up its criticism of this administration over its handling of the crisis there, which has seen a record number of illegal crossings in the months after Biden took office. 

Less than one-third of Americans approve of Joe Biden's handling of mass migration at the U.S.-Mexican border as immigration activists slam Republicans for conducting an insurrection by sending reinforcements south to help with the crisis.

Six states with Republican governors, South Dakota, Florida, Arkansas, Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska are sending law enforcement and National Guard members to the southern border

Six states with Republican governors, South Dakota, Florida, Arkansas, Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska are sending law enforcement and National Guard members to the southern border

A WashingtonPost-ABC News poll conducted June 27-30 shows 51 per cent of adults are not happy with the president's response to the situation at the border, while only 33 per cent of the 907 respondents say they approve of its handling.

The survey, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, notes other areas where the president is succeeding, including his response to the coronavirus pandemic and overall approval rating.

He also fell short, however, when it comes to rising crime in the U.S., with 10 per cent more respondents claiming they disapprove of Biden's handling of that issue over those who approve, 48 per cent to 38 per cent.

The low numbers on immigration issues come as Customs and Border Protection revealed that there were more than 180,000 encounters in May alone, which is the highest month-long number in 20 years.

Biden's dismal showing also comes as a growing list of Republican governors announced they will send reinforcements down to the U.S. border with Mexico to help with the growing crisis and spiking number of illegal crossers.

Republican Governors Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Kim Reynolds of Iowa are all sending law enforcement officers to the southern border.

DeWine became the latest to join when announcing on Friday that the 185 Ohio National Guard Soldiers will join the estimated 3,000 troops already stationed along the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas borders.

Noem announced last week that she will send up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to Texas in an effort to increase border security.

A new poll released Sunday shows only 33% of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the border and more than half think the president is not handling the migration crisis well

A new poll released Sunday shows only 33% of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the border and more than half think the president is not handling the migration crisis well

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) sent a letter to the White House on Sunday demanding Biden to block governors from sending assistance to secure the Texas border.

'We told the president in no uncertain terms, this is an insurrection by recalcitrant and rebellious states that must be stopped,' Domingo Garcia, national president of LULAC, told the Washington Times

Abbott, a Trump ally, claims Biden's government has failed in securing U.S. borders and is relying too much on states to do the job for them. 

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem announced she will send at least 50 National Guard troops to assist with the border crisis

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem announced she will send at least 50 National Guard troops to assist with the border crisis

In response, Abbott ordered the Lone Star State's police and National Guard to respond and has vowed to continue construction on Trump's border wall with his state's money.

Abbott and Trump held a briefing on border security last Wednesday and surveyed an unfinished part of the former president's border wall in McAllen, Texas, which is part of the Rio Grande Valley – where a massive amount of illegal crossings occur.

The trip came five days after Vice President Kamala Harris finally visited the border after three months of pressure from critics who said she can't effectively address the crisis without visiting ground zero.

Instead of going to the main issue area in the Rio Grande, however, Harris visited El Paso, Texas, leading to more criticism from Republicans for her choice of location.

Governor Noem drew a distinction between her decision to send the National Guard to the border and other governors who are sending state police officers.

'The border is a national security crisis that requires the kind of sustained response only the National Guard can provide,' she said in a statement. 

'We should not be making our own communities less safe by sending our police or Highway Patrol to fix a long-term problem President Biden's Administration seems unable or unwilling to solve.

Abbott's new push to build more barriers along the border has been criticized as political theater, but he has defended the plan, saying the number of border crossers remains high. 

The governor said he will use $250 million in state money and crowdsourced financing for the barriers, although the timeline and cost for the push are unclear. It also faces potential court challenges from the federal government.

Large numbers of migrants have been showing up at the U.S. border with Mexico, with many turning themselves over to U.S. Border Patrol agents in seeking legal asylum status. 

But the numbers of families and children traveling without their parents crossing into the U.S. have dropped sharply since March and April, while the encounters with single adults have remained high.

A private donation will fund the cost of sending the South Dakota National Guard troops, Noem said. 

Donald Trump at the southern border on June 30
Kamala Harris at the southern border on June 25

Former President Donald Trump (left) visited part of his unfinished border wall in McAllen, Texas last Wednesday and five days earlier Vice President Kamala Harris visited the border in El Paso, Texas with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

The GOP is ramping up a political fight with President Joe Biden over border security. Migrants cross the border on rafts in Roma, Texas, on June 19

The GOP is ramping up a political fight with President Joe Biden over border security. Migrants cross the border on rafts in Roma, Texas, on June 19

The deployment is expected to last from 30 to 60 days, while the other states involved are sending law enforcement officers for roughly two-week stints.

The governor's office did not respond when asked for the identity of the private donor paying for the National Guard deployment.

But Democratic state Sen. Reynold Nesiba said the fact Noem was using a private donor to pay for the deployment showed it was not a ' real priority' for the state, but instead gave her 'political cover.' He said he was looking into whether using a private donation to fund the deployment is legal.

'This could set a dangerous precedent to allow anonymous political donors to call the governor and dispatch the Guard whenever they want,' he said.

Ohio becomes the SIXTH state to send reinforcements to the border in response to Biden's crisis

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