BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday released a letter asking the president to hold an in-person meeting with him and other governors to address crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Twenty-six Republican governors in all signed the letter, which called on President Joe Biden to "find solutions to the national security and public health crisis" at the border.
According to the Associated Press, the United States has removed thousands of Haitian migrants from an encampment along the Texas border in the last several days. Members of the group say they are fleeing instability in their home country following a devastating earthquake and the assassination of the Haitian president.
Illegal border crossings overall are also on the rise, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement data showing that the number of migrants detained along the southern border hit a two-decade high earlier this summer.
"The sustained availability of drugs and the impact from crime related to drug abuse – including property and violent crimes – present continuing threats to the health and safety of Idahoans," Little said in a statement. "Meth and fentanyl are the most serious and growing drug threats in Idaho, and there is a direct tie to the loose border with Mexico. America's governors, including me, are asking the President to talk to us and work with us on solutions to the crisis."
Little met with Biden in person earlier in September when the president visited Idaho to tour the National Interagency Fire Center and address the impact of climate change on the West's increasingly severe wildfire seasons.
The governor sent five Idaho State Police troopers to the Arizona-Mexico border earlier this year for three weeks to help Arizona State Police with drug cases.
The full governors' group letter can be read in its entirety here.
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