Arizona’s governor on Friday ordered the state’s National Guard to the border with Mexico to help federal officials manage the influx of migrants.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said she issued the executive order because “the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our borders and keep our communities safe.”
“I’m taking action where the federal government won’t,” Hobbs said.
It is unclear when the troops will arrive at the border and how many will be mobilized.
Hobbs asked President Joe Biden’s administration a week ago to mobilize 243 Arizona National Guard troops already in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector that includes Lukeville, Arizona, to help federal officials reopen the border crossing that was permanently closed on Dec. 4.
Customs and Border Protection has said closing the official crossing is necessary to allow staff to be stationed there to help Border Patrol agents manage the hundreds of migrants who cross illegally in the area each day.
Migrants wait to be transported by US border patrol after crossing the border wall into the US from Mexico, as the number of migrants increases in the border town of Lukeville, Arizona, on Dec. 14, 2023. REUTERS
Although remote, the crossing is a popular route for Arizonans traveling to the Mexican resort of Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point, about 62 miles south of the border on the northern coast of the Sea of Cortez.
Hobbs said National Guard members will be stationed at several locations along the southern border, including around Lukeville.
There, they will support state and local agencies involved in law enforcement, including the interdiction of illegal drugs and human trafficking.
Customs and Border Protection officials said they did not have an immediate response to the governor’s decision. Reuters
The San Miguel crossing located further east in the Tohono O’odham Nation also sees hundreds of migrant arrivals each day, but tribal officials said the National Guard will not be stationed on the reservation.
“We are in close contact with Governor Hobbs on this issue,” said Verlon Jose, chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation. “We explained that no National Guard will be deployed to the country and his office has agreed. The Governor’s action today is a necessary step in addressing the current crisis at the border.”
Hobbs said the Biden administration has not responded to his request that the US government reimburse Arizona for border security spending.
Hobbs said National Guard members will be stationed at several locations along the southern border, including around Lukeville. NYPJ
Customs and Border Protection officials said they did not have an immediate response to the governor’s decision.
The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, National Guard confirmed Friday afternoon it activated members.
Major General Kerry L. Muehlenbeck, who oversees the Arizona National Guard, noted that in September it completed a 30-month active duty mission providing support to law enforcement agencies in southern Arizona.
Muehlenbeck said previous missions provided logistical, administrative, cyber and medical support.
US Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, who represents southern Arizona, said he disagreed with Hobbs’ executive order.
“But I appreciate that Governor Hobbs has rejected the cruel and cruel tactics of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott who have taken advantage of this crisis to inhumanely and illegally use immigrants as political pawns and to politicize and bog down rather than work on real solutions, Grijalva said in a statement.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
