The Democratic governor of Arizona issued an executive order calling out the National Guard, citing a lack of support from the Biden administration as the reason.
“With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t," Hobbs said in a statement. "But we can’t stand alone, Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly and humane border. Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border.”
The small Lukeville Crossing has been closed since December 4 when smugglers began to overwhelm the tiny contingent of border guards and CBP personnel stationed there by dropping off their human cargo. Lukeville is literally in the middle of nowhere. It's 30 miles from the nearest town with little in the way of support services for large numbers of illegals.
Lukeville was shut down when the Biden administration determined that agents assigned to intercept people and drugs should be used to process illegal aliens and release them into the United States.
National Guard troops will be sent to several locations, including near the Lukeville and San Miguel crossings, to help the Arizona Department of Public Safety and local police agencies with enforcement. That will include fentanyl interdiction, analytical support and enforcement targeting human trafficking, according to Hobbs' office.
Hobbs' order says the Arizona Department of Public Safety shall increase operations along the border, though details were not provided.
The Governor's Office said deploying the National Guard is the next step in Operation SECURE, a multifaceted funding plan announced by Hobbs a week ago. That plan includes millions of dollars earmarked to cover the cost of sending Guard troops to communities near the border.
Hobbs visited the Lukeville crossing last week and met with the governor of Sonora, Alfonso Durazo. She says she discussed "ways we can work together to ensure the prompt re-opening of the Lukeville Port of Entry and bring security and stability to the Arizona-Mexico border."
There's only one person who can reopen that border crossing. And he doesn't live in Mexico.
Adjutant General Kerry Muehlenbeck, the top Guard official in Arizona and head of the state Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, doesn't know how many guardsmen will be needed or how long they will be deployed.
Hobbs' action marks a decisive step on a political issue of prominence in the Grand Canyon State, and one on which there are no catch-all solutions at her disposal. State powers to police the border are limited because immigration policy and enforcement falls to the federal government.
Deploying the National Guard was met with mixed reaction from Arizona's representatives in Congress, including from Democrats.
"While it’s overdue, I’m glad to see Governor Hobbs sign today’s executive order and take this necessary action to secure our border," U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said through a spokesperson. "What will it take for President Biden to listen to border communities, make this a priority and take just one step in the right direction?”
As we've noted in the past, Biden isn't interested in "listening to border communities." He's got an election to win. And any hint that he believes there's a crisis at the border would cost him dearly at the polls.
As long as most Democrats play along with Biden and deny there's a crisis, he should be able to weather the political storm. It's a sad commentary on the media who are running interference for the president.
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