By Guy Page
At his press conference Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott said concern about opening the northern border stopped him from joining every other Republican governor in a letter to the Biden administration last month urging an end to the unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants on the southern border.
“Governor, why didn’t you sign the letter signed by the 26 other Republican governors protesting the Biden administration’s southern border immigration policies?” the Vermont Daily Chronicle asked.
“At that point in time, we were trying to negotiate with the federal government about opening the northern border, and making some headway,” Scott said. “The southern border, while a situation that was impacting that region dramatically, they thought they had it well in hand. And from my standpoint, it was more about focusing on the northern border. Why would I send a letter when I was trying to encourage them to open up the northern border to open up the economic opportunities for this region? It was a strategic decision on my part to not close the door on the opportunity to open up the border.”
The Chronicle noted that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire signed the letter.
“I guess he relied on me to make sure we could open up the northern border,” Scott said. He later said his answer about New Hampshire was “a bit flippant” and observed that Vermont has a wider border with Canada than New Hampshire. The U.S. – Canada border is scheduled to reopen to two-way travel on November 8. Visitors from Canada must be vaccinated.
The Republican governors of border states Montana and North Dakota also signed the letter.
Border apprehensions have surged almost 500% since last year and it is essential that federal action is taken immediately, the Republican Governors’ Association said in a September 20 statement. “The President is fully capable of using his office to implement policies that protect Americans from the multitude of problems that stem from the uncontrolled southern border.”
Illegal border crossings through September 20 totalled 1.3 million since Biden took office. That’s more people than the entire population of nine U.S. States. That figure is twice the population of Vermont (650,000).
“Despite the lack of federal action to reverse the crisis, many states have stepped up and committed unprecedented resources to support the security of our national border. We have heard directly from our constituents about the damage this crisis has caused in our states, and it is our duty as elected officials to act swiftly to protect our communities, as it is yours,” the governors said.
“While governors are doing what we can, our Constitution requires that the President must faithfully execute the immigration laws passed by Congress. Not only has the federal government created a crisis, it has left our states to deal with challenges that only the federal government has a duty to solve.”
Scott has been an active supporter of legal immigration, including resettling refugees from Afghanistan and other troubled nations, saying they are needed to enhance Vermont’s too-small labor force. On Oct. 8 he said he is unaware of any plans by the Department of Homeland Security to fly illegal immigrants from the southern border to Vermont for immigration processing.
Categories: National News
Governor Scott also did not respond to the Texas governor’s request for national guard help at the border. His Democrat leanings show thru his Republican Monaca!
Personally I don’t see where the conditions on southern boarder where hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are flooding into the country, has any bearing on opening up the northern boarder to normalization. Canadians have a strong COVID prevention program as we do. The illegals flooding our southern boarder, we are not even supposed to question their legality, much less their vaccine status ! If the Governor thinks that Vermont is not affected by the events at the southern boarder, maybe he also would claim that there are not illegals working here on our farms already, and/or that fact does not mean that those already here will not try to bring family to Vermont in this flood.
one has nothing to do with the other……
His response doesn’t even make any sense…
Well, once again this shows how ignorant this “guvnah” is. The northern border is the complete opposite of what we are seeing on the southern border. Stupid answer, Guvnah. This Guv was SO HAPPY to vote for the absolute cesspool we are seeing all over our country right now and in every aspect of our lives and those of our family, friends and neighbors. Funny how Montana and N Dakota governors signed…But that just shows this guy is really a Demo-communist-tyrant. PLEASE LEAVE THE REPUBLICAN Party, you fake.
what a bunch of BS.
Scott is a lying, self serving, leftist. He needs to go.
Even ignorance isn’t a strong enough word to describe the total unawareness of this RINO Governor! That the federal government has the invasion at the southern border ‘well in hand’ shows that Scott is clueless! Tens of thousands are flooding in from all over the world and the UN, using our tax dollars, is supporting this massive wave of humanity with food, water and transport. Scott ought to look at some of the videos from Mexico at this time. If he still thinks the situation is ‘well in hand’, we’ll know he is as clueless as sleepy Joe.
To think that Afghan refugees will help us with our labor shortage, Scott has no understanding of history. These people come from a totally different culture, don’t speak our language or know our customs. Thinking they’ll just plop right into our society and be contributing citizens is downright idiocy!
What assurance would anyone in VT have that once in the USA any of these people would stay here?
The Northern border issue is different (hopefully) than the southern border issue. The northern border has allowed passage with provisions however the southern is an uncontrolled invasion of illegals with motives unknown at this time. The US government is politically uninterested in controlling the flow of undocumented people across the southern border.
Gov. Scott is not signing because he doesn’t want to p-o the President.
Not supporting the states on the southern boarder because you are afraid of how Brandon will react in regards to opening the northern boarder is chicken —- !
Let’s go ‘Chicken’. 🙂
Let’s go Chicken. 🙂
I was traveling and the only radio station I could get was VPR, which was torture enough. I heard the excuse from the Gov.. Hearing it was even worse than reading it. Talk about fumbling over words, I thought for a moment that I was listening to Joe Braindead himself. “Common Man you’re a lyin’ dog faced pony soldier”, at least that’s what old puddin’ head would say.
Seems like the governor spends very little time viewing current events. If he thinks the southern border is secure and that an experimental gene therapy injection is safe and effective and that children should be used as lab rats so big pharma can see if their elixir can save humanity from a man made flu, I guess I can now understand how this so called republican could vote for the destruction of America by King and resident dictator, Uncle (feel my legs Kids) Joe Biden. See Virginia, Americans are sick and tired of the lies, incompetence, race baiting and bullying.
Unadulterated Hogwash!!!!
I’m guessing that Governor Scott is pandering to, and following the directions of, the progressive-liberals who keep him in office. Even his weak excuse for not signing the letter was probably at the behest of the Lunatic Left. They’re all dumb as ditchwater…
There is no comparison between the Northern and Southern border. The Canadians, although governed by Trudeau, still have sovereignty in mind and would never let things get as bad as the Mexican (on the take) government and drug lords.
#Let’s Go Phil
You mean Brandon Light ?
#Pick Your Spot