Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday called on the White House to deploy 6,000 National Guardsmen along their home state’s border.

The move comes as McCain struggles to distance himself from his previous support of comprehensive immigration reform.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, the Arizonans argue that troops are needed because violence from the Mexican drug war has “crossed the border and escalated to a point where many Arizonans do not feel safe within their own homes or on their own property. They feel that they live in a lawless area of the country and have been abandoned by the federal government, which has a duty to protect its citizens by securing the nation’s borders.”

“We again urge you to deploy at least 6,000 National Guardsmen to protect our southern border, with 3,000 of these troops focused on the Arizona/Mexico border,” McCain and Kyl added.

Facing a stiff primary challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, McCain has sought to distance himself from his past support for pursuing immigration legislation that included border security provisions as well as broader changes to the immigration system.