Pennsylvania lawmaker calls to send Pennsylvania Army National Guard to Texas

Dennis Owens
·2 min read
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The southern border is being called a crisis with huge numbers of people flooding in or trying to flood into the country, but should Pennsylvania do more to help?

State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Adams/Franklin) is a 30-year army veteran and is now calling on Governor Josh Shapiro (D) to send in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard to secure the national border.

Mastriano, who ran unsuccessfully for Governor against Shapiro in 2022, says every state is now a border state and that “Pennsylvania has a compelling interest to help secure the southern border.”

Mastriano introduced a resolution that argues that the undocumented strain on schools, hospitals, and law enforcement in every commonwealth community, as well as the porous border, is killing Pennsylvanians.

“We have about 5,000 fentanyl deaths every year in Pennsylvania, and most of that fentanyl is coming across the Mexican border,” says Mastriano.

Many Democrats disagree with Mastriano, who says he’s responding to a call to action from Texas.

“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should not and must not engage in supporting the reckless irresponsible actions of a (Texas) Governor out of control and himself in violation of the law,” said State Senator Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia).

There is precedent for Pennsylvania Army National Guard members to be sent across state lines. In 1916 guardsmen were sent to fight Pancho Villa and in 2006 Governor Ed Rendell allowed guardsmen to volunteer on the southern border.

Governor Shapiro says it’s up to Congress to secure the border and fix a broken immigration system “not more of the failed talking points and political grandstanding that have brought us decades without immigration reform.”

Mastriano’s resolution passed on straight party lines in the State Senate, but he did not speak to Governor Shapiro, the man who could enact it.

“I have been in contact with the legislator, a counterpart in the Texas Senate, and they want us and they need us pretty bad,” said Mastriano.

State Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, the top Republican in the state, is also calling for the Governor to send troops to Texas.

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