Wyoming Still Evaluating Ways To Help Border Crisis; Troops Still Not Mentioned

If Wyomings governor is thinking about sending troops to help with the crisis on the U.S. - Mexico border, hes not announcing it publicly.

JO
Jimmy Orr

July 08, 20213 min read

Border issue

If Wyoming’s governor is thinking about sending troops to help with the crisis on the U.S. – Mexico border, he’s not announcing it publicly.

Last week when asked if Gov. Mark Gordon might follow the lead of other states by sending personnel to the border to help the governors of Arizona and Texas, his spokesman said the office was “evaluating specifics of the requests.”

On Wednesday, the governor’s office published a press release providing a bit more insight on the thinking in the capitol but not mentioning troop deployment either.

So far the governors of Ohio, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Florida have said they will deploy troops or law enforcement officers to assist the two southern states.

That’s not to say Wyoming isn’t doing anything. What’s right for one state may not work for another state. 

The governor, as was told to Cowboy State Daily last week and in today’s press release, is looking for the right way to help with the border crisis.

The release stated that the governor’s office did offer “aerial assets” but upon further review, it appeared those assets “may not precisely match the needs of the requested border mission.”

Specifically, the state offered up its Cessna 208 surveillance aircraft equipped with a digital mapping camera.

If not the plane, then how could Wyoming help?

Wednesday’s announcement doesn’t provide any clues but does reiterate Gordon believes the change in policy at the border brings with it significant risks — even to the Cowboy State.

“Law-enforcement issues at the border and uncontrolled illegal immigration threaten every part of our nation, including Wyoming,” Gordon said.  

The U.S. Border Patrol told NBC News that over the last month it has encountered an average of 5,000 undocumented immigrants a day.

The agency further said that the rate in which Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent, is being smuggled from the deserts of Mexico through the town of El Paso is up 355% since last year and up 4,000% since 2019.

The Border Patrol said Mexican cartels are behind the explosive increase.

“It is clear that the Biden Administration is not addressing this problem with the level of seriousness it requires. Wyoming is ready and willing to provide support to address this critical issue,” Gordon said.

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JO

Jimmy Orr

Executive Editor

A third-generation Wyomingite, Jimmy Orr is the executive editor and co-founder of Cowboy State Daily.