Governor Kim Reynolds has traveled to southwest Texas for a border security tour led by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Reynolds says the aerial tour showed her how challenging the terrain is around Eagle Pass, Texas. In July, Texas Governor Abbott ordered a floating barrier of large orange buoys be placed in the middle of the Rio Grande River.

Reynolds deployed 109 Iowa National Guard soldiers to Texas this month to assist state authorities in operations at the border. Reynolds says drug-related deaths have increased by 35 percent in Iowa this year and according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the drugs are primarily coming from Mexico.

This was the governor’s second trip to the southern border. Reynolds, along with the governors of South Dakota, Nebraska and Oklahoma spoke at a news conference organized by the governor of Texas. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (PILL-en) opposes the Biden Administration’s lawsuit seeking removal of the line of floating buoys in the Rio Grande.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (NOHM, rhymes with “home”) says the Mexican cartels are setting up in her state and driving up crime.

The 109 National Guard soldiers from IOWA are due to return at the end of August. Governor Reynolds plans to send a group of State Patrol Troopers to Texas in September.