Why Kemp and other Georgia leaders are headed back to US border with Mexico

Greg Bluestein, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Dec 20, 2024

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ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp and state legislative leaders are headed to the U.S. border with Mexico on Friday to visit the roughly 85 Georgia National Guard troops stationed there to curb illegal crossings.

Kemp will be joined by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, House Speaker Jon Burns and several legislators to thank the troops who have maintained “the longest continuous presence at the U.S. Southern border of any state in the country,” the governor said.

Kemp announced the deployment of an additional 15 to 20 Guard troops in February as Republicans seek to capitalize on concerns about uncontrolled crossings in an election year.

It came as Republican legislators pushed through a resolution that condemned President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, endorsed a border wall and backed Kemp’s effort to “allocate resources and assistance” to block illegal crossings.

This is Kemp’s third recent trip to the border and fourth since taking office. His last visit came in February as part of a contingent of Republican governors who trekked to Eagle Pass, a border town of roughly 30,000 that became a flashpoint in a power struggle with the Biden administration over immigration.

Immigration was one of the top concerns of Georgia voters in the November election as President-elect Donald Trump renewed vows to launch the largest mass deportation of people in the U.S. illegally in the nation’s history.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials this week reported that more than 270,000 immigrants were deported to nearly 200 countries in the last fiscal year, which marked the highest tally in a decade.