Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday defended the state sending National Guard members to the U.S. southern border, where President Joe Biden’s administration has created a “political nightmare.”
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Hutchinson said “we are going to do our part.”
“What they've given to us on the border is a political nightmare,” the governor said. “And so it deserves a cooperative response between the states and the federal government.”
According to Hutchinson, during the Bush administration, “we had joint efforts with our state's [border security] counterparts because we needed those resources.”
“When multiple states send additional resources down to support Texas and Arizona along the border, we hope that has a beneficial impact,” he said. “If that's not happening, then that's a shame. But we are going to try to do our part because what's happening right now is a disaster and human tragedy of what we are seeing with the changes policy coming out of the Biden administration.”
He added the deployment is a “state function.”
Hutchinson has joined other GOP governors who have committed to sending National Guard troops and state law enforcement officials to assist Customs and Border Protection agents at the southern border.
“It is something that we respond to other states in terms of disaster. I would consider it a bad precedent to have it privately funded."
South Dakota’s GOP Kristi Noem reportedly is using funding from Tennessee billionaire Willis Johnson to send an initial 50 National Guard troops to the border.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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