State Rep. Greg Alexander has signed onto a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calling for her to send Michigan National Guard members to Texas to assist in the ongoing crisis at the country’s southern border.

“The United States has a logistical and humanitarian crisis currently underway at our southern border in Texas,” the letter states. “This is creating dire consequences for our entire nation. As Michigan state legislators, we believe that our state has a duty to extend support in times of national distress. Right now, the situation at the border is worsening. Michigan can help.”

Alexander noted that close to two dozen other states have sent troops and aid to the border to help authorities manage the crisis. In December, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded more than 250,000 encounters with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border – setting a new all-time high. The new record marked the 10^th time encounters have surpassed 200,000 in a month since 2021. From October 2020 to January of this year, U.S. Border Patrol encountered over 300 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Dataset between ports of entry along the southern border – an increase of over 2,900%.

“The Michigan National Guard is world-renowned for its professionalism and skill,” Alexander said. “These courageous individuals have expertise in logistics, medical assistance and crowd management – skills that would help at our out-of-control southern border with currently overwhelmed personnel.

“We are seeing the impacts of the border situation here in Michigan. With drugs like fentanyl and dangerous individuals with past arrest warrants or criminal records pouring into communities across the country, every state is a border state. We need to meet this crisis head-on, and the governor should act.”