Lawmakers have approved Gov. Chris Sununu’s request to spend $850,000 to send 15 members of the New Hampshire National Guard to the Texas-Mexico border, to aid that state’s efforts to police immigration.
The 6-4 vote of the Legislative Fiscal Committee Friday fell along party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed.
During discussion of the proposal, Sununu repeatedly defended it as necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into New Hampshire. He said while the nation's southern border may feel distant, the impacts of unauthorized immigration touch the entire country.
“You can follow the bouncing ball,” Sununu told lawmakers. “It is not hypothetical. It’s not supposition. You can see exactly what is coming from the southern border and trace it right up into virtually every city and town in New Hampshire.”
He also said state-led efforts to address immigration were necessary because of a failure by the federal government to address illegal crossings, which Sununu blames entirely on the Biden administration.
“The fact is, within the first 100 days of office, Joe Biden signed 16 different executive orders, proclamations, and policy memos that rescinded the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy,” Sununu said, referring to a Trump administration-era policy that required asylum seekings to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court date. “It handcuffed the border patrol’s ability to do its job.”
Republican lawmakers on the committee praised Sununu and emphasized the danger they see at the border, with several of them comparing the threats they see there to the worst attacks the country has ever faced.
“I put it on the same scale as Pearl Harbor,” Rep. Jess Edwards said.
“How quickly we forget that 11 terrorists, what they did to this nation on 9/11,” Senate President Jeb Bradley added. “736 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the border, and that doesn’t count the got-aways.”
According to PolitiFact, immigration officials recorded 736 encounters in fiscal year 2023 with individuals on the terrorist watch list, but “that doesn’t mean 736 terrorists entered the country. Immigration officials can deny entry to people they encounter who are on the list.”
Democrats on the committee meanwhile suggested that instead of asking for state money to patrol a border more than 2,000 miles away, Sununu might pressure Republicans in Congress to pass a border control package. House Republicans earlier this month scuttled a bipartisan plan to overhaul the federal immigration system
“It seems to me the real issue is the Congress funding what should be funded,” said Sen. Lou D’Allesandro.
Democrats also argued the state should focus its resources on public health threats closer to home.
“I am acutely aware of what’s going on at the southern border,” said Democratic Rep. Peter Leshman of Peterborough, whose son died of a fentanyl overdose. “What kind of difference is this going to make on the thousand of miles of border?”
Sununu dismissed such concerns — and mocked Democrats for raising issues about the amount of money he was requesting.
“I got to say, I love seeing the Democrats so fiscally disciplined. It’s wonderful. I love the sentiment,” Sununu said. “We have great surpluses.”
