TOPEKA, Kan. ( KSNT ) – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is weighing in on the conflict at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Republican-led states are sending troops to stand with Texas as tensions rise amid the ‘border battle’ with the federal government. Kansas has sent troops to the border in the past.
In an interview Wednesday, Nexstar’s Kansas Capitol Bureau asked Governor Kelly whether Kansas will send troops to help Texas.
“The National Guard on a state level, I’m the Commander-in-Chief, but when they go to the Border, they’re federalized, and they’re actually responding to the President at that point,” Kelly said. “The border issue is a federal issue, so if the President decides to federalize some Kansas troops, then they will go.”
In 2021, responded to pushback from Republican legislators on Texas’ border crisis. At the time, the Governor’s administration said that 250 National Guard Soldiers had been deployed to the border since October 2020.
Nexstar’s Kansas Capitol Bureau asked the Governor’s Office to clarify where she stands on the current conflict. Brianna Johnson, Communications Director for the Governor, sent the following statement on Wednesday.