NEW HAMPSHIRE — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is requesting $850,000 in state funds to send the state’s National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border to aid in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security efforts. 

What You Need To Know

  • New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is requesting $850,000 of the state's funds to send the state’s National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border to aid in Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security efforts 

  • Sununu was one of over a dozen Republican governors who joined Abbott at the U.S.-Mexico border for a press conference earlier this month

  • Since then, other governors have announced sending aid to Texas, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson

  • New Hampshire's Fiscal Committee plans to take up Sununu's letter at a meeting on Friday

Sununu joined Abbott for a press conference at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass earlier this month. The site has been in the spotlight of Texas’ immigration standoff with the Biden administration. Republicans struck down a bipartisan border and immigration bill earlier this month that was meant to decrease the influx of migrants at the southern border.

More than a dozen Republican governors from across the U.S. joined Abbott on the border. Several have already announced plans to send their own National Guard troops to Texas to bolster Border Patrol, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

Sununu on Tuesday sent a letter to the Fiscal Committee in New Hampshire requesting funding to send troops to Texas. The $850,000 would allow for 15 National Guard troops to head to the border for up to 90 days, under the direction of the Texas National Guard.

The move by Sununu comes as a law that would allow police to arrest migrants at the border for entering the state illegally is set to go before a judge in Austin, Texas.

“Simply stated, in the absence of a willingness at the federal level to secure our border, states (both individually and collectively) must undertake efforts to protect the safety of their citizens,” Sununu wrote in the letter.

He says that although the issue in Texas is happening thousands of miles away, it affects New Hampshire directly.

“It’s important that everyone understands this is a 50-state issue. This is a New Hampshire-based issue,” Sununu said in an interview with WMUR. “We feel it every day here, and we’re just trying to step up to our partners, show some solidarity, to make sure that we’re pushing back and keeping our citizens safe.”

In October 2023, Sununu announced using $1.4 million of the state's budget to create a Northern Border Alliance Task Force to patrol the New Hampshire-Canada border. The task force would be made up of state and local law enforcement to “reduce the instance of crimes and illicit activity,” Sununu wrote.

According to NHPR, data from Customs and Border Protection showed that there were 21 encounters or apprehensions along the state’s northern border between October 2022 and December 2023.