We would never be so myopic as to suggest what happens at the southern border doesn’t have an effect on Pennsylvania.

A 2023 report indicates at least 251,000 illegal immigrants reside in Pennsylvania with an annual burden of more than $1.6 billion on taxpayers. That equates to a cost of approximately $318 per Pennsylvania household annually, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Just under 103,000 migrants have been sent to sanctuary cities across the country, including 3,400 to Philadelphia since November 2022, according to a recent report by The Center Square.

We can’t disagree with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s decision not to send members of the Pennsylvania National Guard to Texas.

The situation isn’t affecting Pennsylvania the same way it affects other states, and a recent Associated Press review of South Dakota records show that some days the South Dakota National Guard troops had little to do. During a rushed deployment of Texas National Guard members at the start of the mission, some of the National Guard members also complained of low morale and uneventful patrols.

Immigration is a mess. But that doesn’t mean Pennsylvania National Guard troops sent to Texas would have a defined role in helping secure the border, and commonwealth residents would be paying for National Guard troops to perhaps end up sitting on the sidelines.

Shapiro, in our opinion, is right. More help is needed on the border, but that help should be paid for with federal dollars as part of a Congressional compromise.

The only way Pennsylvania National Guard troops should be sent to the border is if they are requested by the federal government, not as part of a grandstanding effort by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans in Pennsylvania.