Senate Resolution 28 Printer's Number 310

PENNSYLVANIA, February 28 - Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,

Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia,

West Virginia and Wyoming, have deployed their national guard to

secure the border; and

WHEREAS, Operation Lone Star personnel work to detect and

repel illegal crossings, arrest human smugglers and cartel gang

members and stop the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl; and

WHEREAS, Operation Lone Star has led to more than 530,800

illegal immigrant apprehensions, more than 50,300 criminal

arrests, 43,000 felony charges and the seizure of more than 622

million lethal doses of fentanyl, and, according to the Texas

Department of Public Safety, Texas has decreased illegal entry

by 87%; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has a compelling interest to help

secure the southern border as fentanyl has killed tens of

thousands of residents throughout this Commonwealth, school

districts are increasingly burdened, available affordable

housing is constricted and strained social benefits are diverted

from legal citizens; and

WHEREAS, Illegal immigration cost Pennsylvania taxpayers more

than $1.6 billion in 2024, equating to a burden of $4,845 per

Pennsylvania taxpayer annually, according to the Federation for

American Immigration Reform; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Franklin founded what is now our

Pennsylvania National Guard to provide a common defense of

Pennsylvania in times of crisis; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has the third-largest National Guard in

the country with more than 18,000 personnel; and

WHEREAS, Throughout its history, the Pennsylvania National

Guard has been deployed nationwide to assist other states with

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