Reeves thinks the border issues are just as relevant in Mississippi as in Texas. See why

Despite Republican Gov. Tate Reeves' claims that the border dispute between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and President Joseph Biden has an impact on border security in Mississippi, Mississippi Immigration Rights Alliance Director Bill Chandler said the impact is mostly unfounded.

“It’s unadulterated [expletive],” Chandler said. “Undocumented workers are not a problem here, what's happening here in the agricultural areas like in the Delta and northeast Mississippi, where sweet potatoes and melons and all that come from, the farmers there are desperate for these workers.”

On Feb. 4, Reeves joined Abbott and several other Republican governors, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, for a news conference along the Rio Grande to discuss Operation Lone Star and border concerns.

According to the American Immigration Council’s most recent report in 2020, there are about 20,000 undocumented immigrants in Mississippi, comprising 35% of the total immigrant population in the state.

Reeves, and then later his deputy chief of staff Corey Custer, told the Clarion Ledger via text that the border issue is not just one that effects Texas, but one that affects all Americans, including those in Mississippi because of drug, gun and human trafficking coming in from the border.

“The fact is the crisis at the border is currently the No. 1 issue Americans are concerned about. They should be, as it negatively impacts every state in the nation,” Reeves said. “The drugs, like fentanyl, guns and people being smuggled across the border don’t stay there, they make their way to every state across the country.”

“This isn’t a Texas issue,” Custer said. “This is a national security issue that affects every state in the nation. Over 388 million lethal doses of fentanyl were seized by the DEA in 2023. A record number of people on the terror watch list were also encountered in 2023. Since Joe Biden has been president, 1.7 million people have evaded apprehension and are freely roaming our country. We have no idea who they are, where they are coming from, and if they intend to cause Americans harm. Those are serious national security threats.”

A January report by the Drug Enforcement Administration stated that as of 2023, Mississippi had some of the least known instances of drug-trafficking or cartel-related associates compared to other states.

Chandler said of the more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants his organization has helped to gain citizenship, and the thousands more they have helped to receive proper food and supplies, none have been connected to any criminal activity.

“Occasionally, we’ll find somebody that's a user among a group of immigrants, but we don't have any pushers around here in the Latino community,” Chandler said.

He added that most people coming to Mississippi from the border are only passing through while traveling to other areas to the east and other cities north of the state. Those that stay in Mississippi usually work.

Reeves' office did not respond by time of publication to questions asked about how the trip to Texas was funded.

The Tennessean in Nashville reported last week that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's "flight was arranged by a nonprofit affiliated with the Republican Governors Association, of which Lee was elected chair in December, according to the governor's office," the Tennessean report states. "The governor traveled to the border to join a coalition of 13 Republican governors 'for a briefing on the crisis at our southern border' — the day before he presented his State of the State address. …

"According to the RGA, the event was coordinated by State Solutions, Inc., a 501(c)(4) nonprofit associated with the RGA. State Solutions covered all costs associated with the travel. It is unclear whether the nonprofit organization ― whose leadership consists entirely of RGA executives ― sent private planes for every governor who attended the event, or if Lee was the only governor who received such treatment," the Tennessean report states.

Tennessean's report on border trip: The week in politics: How Gov. Bill Lee flew to Texas border and who paid for it?

Texas situation

As part of Operation Lone Star, Texas has implemented several measures to block migrants from entering the state and country, including setting up more than 100 miles of razor wire, placing large water buoys in the Rio Grande and building segments of a state border wall. No other state has built a wall.

On Jan. 24, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal agents can remove the razor wire after the federal government earlier this month sought an emergency ruling allowing it to do so to reach migrants or officers in distress and to patrol the southern border.

Abbott refuted the ruling, and he has since sent Texas National Guard members to occupy Shelby Park and cut off Federal agent’s access to one of the park’s entrances, Eagle Pass.

Over the last few weeks, 25 governors have come out in support of Texas, including Mississippi's Reeves. Since the event, several of those state’s governors said they are willing to send additional troops from their National Guard's ranks to assist Texas. Those states include Tennessee and Arkansas. Other states with representatives present at the press conference such as Georgia and Montana, have sent National Guard members in the past. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also committed to sending troops to the border.

See Tate Reeves visit to Texas Reeves supports Texas governor at border press conference on immigration. See details

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced last week his intention to send troops to the border as well.

Neither Reeves nor Custer answered repeated questions on whether Reeves will send Mississippi National Guardsmen to the border.

Other efforts on the border

Also last week, Republicans in the United States Senate also blocked a bipartisan bill that would have given Biden the authority to quickly expel migrants who enter the country illegally and fund military operations in Israel and Ukraine.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell later stated the bill was definitively dead and lawmakers were seeking a new bill to fund those military efforts, cutting the border dispute out. The Senate passed that bill, which consisted of $95 million of aid, passed last week.

See Reeve's crime reduction announcement 'You don't run this city': Gov. Reeves reveals operation aimed to reduce crime in Jackson

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Gov. Tate Reeves thinks the border issue is relevant to Mississippi