A Year of Inaction From President Biden on Governors Border Security Plan

HELENA, Mont. – One year ago today, Governor Greg Gianforte and nine other governors toured the southern border and provided President Joe Biden a ten-point plan to restore security and end the border crisis.

“Last fall, I joined my fellow governors to do something President Biden has yet to do: visit the southern border and present commonsense solutions to end the crisis,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Unfortunately, our repeated calls for action have been met with silence while the crisis, and its impacts on Montana, have gotten worse.”

In response to a surge in illegal crossings at the southern border, last September, Governor Gianforte and 25 of the nation’s governors asked President Biden to meet with them within 15 days to bring an end to the border crisis. To date, the governors have not received a response from the president.

Two weeks later, the governor joined nine of his fellow governors in Mission, Texas to receive a briefing from law enforcement and tour the border. There, they unveiled ten policies to protect America, restore security, and end the border crisis, including fully reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols and ending catch and release.

Absent federal action, Gov. Gianforte this spring joined the American Governors’ Border Strike Force, a collaborative effort among 26 states to secure the border. Among other focuses, the strike force is working to improve coordination and communication to combat the trafficking of illegal drugs.

In the first six months of 2022, law enforcement in Montana seized nearly twice the amount of fentanyl seized in the previous three years combined. Fatal overdoses from fentanyl are also up 1100% since 2017.

At an August press conference in Gallatin County with U.S. Senator Steve Daines, Congressman Matt Rosendale, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and state and local law enforcement, the governor again urged the Biden administration to secure the southern border amid record fentanyl seizures in Montana.