GOP mulls next move after Kansas governor vetoes effort to help Texas in border security fight
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ governor is blocking an attempt by Republican legislators to give the state’s National Guard a “border mission” of helping Texas in its partisan fight with the Biden administration over illegal immigration.
Top Republicans in the Kansas House were considering Thursday whether their chamber can muster the two-thirds majority necessary to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of immigration provisions in the next state budget. The Senate’s top Republican promised to mount an override effort, but the House would vote first.
Kelly on Wednesday vetoed a budget provision that would have directed her administration to confer with Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, and send Kansas National Guard personnel or equipment to the border. The GOP proposal would have helped Texas enforce a state law allowing its officials to arrest migrants suspected of crossing into the U.S. illegally. She also vetoed a provision setting aside $15.7 million for the effort.