Ducey will send National Guard to border

Gov. Doug Ducey will dispatch National Guard troops to the southern border in response to a recent surge in migrant arrivals there, his office announced Tuesday.

The Republican leader also declared a state of emergency in four border counties — Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz and Yuma — as well as in Maricopa and Pinal.

“The U.S. Border Patrol is overwhelmed. Local law enforcement and mayors are calling out for help,” Ducey said in a video outlining his rationale.

“Citizens in our border communities are concerned for their safety, and nonprofits, left to pick up the pieces of broken federal policies, are strained … and yet we still haven’t received an adequate response from the (Joe) Biden administration.”

The governor for weeks has held Biden solely responsible for the migrant surge, pointing to the Democrat’s deci

sion to reverse a series of aggressive immigration policies implemented by his predecessor.

During a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border last month, Ducey blasted Biden and his administration for being “totally divorced from the reality on the ground.”

Upon his return, he slammed Vice President Kamala Harris as the “worst possible choice” to lead the administration’s response and requested federal funding to dispatch National Guard troops.

Mixed feelings on Guard involvement

That money apparently did not come through. Arizona will provide up to $25 million for the deployment, which could involve up to 250 Guard members, the Governor’s Office said Tuesday.

Troops are expected to provide support for local law enforcement, installing and maintaining border cameras, monitoring and collecting camera data, and analyzing satellite imagery. They also may assist with medical operations in detention centers, according to Brig. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck, the state’s adjutant general.

In a statement, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot said the deployment would “help ensure Yuma and other border communities are further protected from dangerous and illegal activity.”

“By deploying National Guard assets, the governor will allow me to deploy more first responders to mission-critical tasks, where we will work side by side with our federal partners to target, apprehend and prosecute transnational criminal organizations,” he said.

But other southern Arizona leaders have bristled at the idea, dismissing it as political posturing meant to score points with the GOP and distract from Ducey’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, for instance, whose district includes portions of Arizona’s border, has urged Ducey to instead prioritize funding for local governments and nonprofit groups that have been providing assistance to asylum seekers near the border.

Overwhelmed Border Patrol agents have released migrants in Yuma, Ajo and Gila Bend, often in small, rural communities that lack the infrastructure to house or transport them.

Ducey will visit Yuma County on Wednesday “to get more details from community leaders and law enforcement officials about what they’re seeing on the ground,” his office said. Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, is also expected to attend.