Arkansas becomes latest state to send troops to southern border amid migrant surge

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday that his state would become the latest to send National Guard troops to the southern border -- after an appeal for help in dealing with the border crisis from Arizona and Texas.Hutchinson announced a 90-day deployment of up to 40 members of the state’s National Guard to Texas to help with security at the border.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge put blame on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for failing to the secure the border in a tweet, saying that the troops would help "fill the gap" at the border and stop the flow of human trafficking and drugs into the U.S. Amid a massive spike in encounters at the border, both Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued a call to other states earlier this month for help to stem the crisis at the border. "On behalf of Texas and Arizona, we respectfully but urgently request that you send all available law-enforcement resources to the border in defense of our sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Republican governors wrote in a letter to their counterparts.