DUCEY AT BORDER
Biden urged to declare a ‘national emergency’
“There’s certainly more work to be done here, so I call on our federal government to do more to resolve this crisis.”
Gov. Doug Ducey during a visit to Yuma on Wednesday renewed his call for federal intervention at the U.S.-Mexico border, urging President Joe Biden to “declare a national emergency and deploy the vast powers of your administration to stop what is happening here.”
Flanked by state lawmakers and local public safety officials, the Republican leader said Arizona was “willing to step up and do our part” in response to a recent surge in migrant arrivals and apprehensions. But he argued federal backup would be necessary to “stop the disaster that’s unfolding here.”
“We were just briefed by Border Patrol and local law enforcement officers on the crisis here,” Ducey said during an afternoon news conference held in front of the border wall. “Agents are overwhelmed. Citizens here in Yuma are concerned for their safety, and nonprofits, left to pick up the pieces of broken federal policies, are strained.
“Yet, we still have not received any signs of action from the federal government,” he continued. “No President Biden. No Vice President (Kamala) Harris. No Secretary (of Homeland Security Alejandro) Mayorkas. Not a single member of the administration has paid us a visit here in Yuma, or in any of Arizona’s other border cities.”
The Yuma trip, which also included a tour and roundtable discussion, came less than a day after Ducey announced plans to dispatch up to 250 Arizona National Guard troops to the border, a $25 million effort. He also declared a state of emergency in six Arizona counties.
“There’s certainly more work to be done here, so I call on our federal government to do more to resolve this crisis,” Ducey said Wednesday. “But if the administration isn’t going to do anything, then Arizona will.”
GOP: Security ‘our first priority’
Ducey for weeks has held Biden solely responsible for the migrant surge, pointing to the Democrat’s decision to reverse a series of aggressive
immigration policies implemented by his predecessor.
During a visit to the border wall in Douglas last month, the governor blasted Biden and his administration for being “totally divorced from the reality on the ground” and charged federal officials with advertising a “wide open” border.
Immigration analysts have pointed to a complex mix of factors — including a bottleneck of asylum seekers they attribute to former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy — to explain the recent spike in arrivals.
But the Biden administration does seem to have been caught off guard by the size and speed of the recent surge, which has overwhelmed detention facilities.
It also did not grant Ducey’s request for cash to cover the National Guard deployment.
Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, applauded Ducey’s decision to use state funds to dispatch Guard troops to provide backup, calling the security of Arizona residents “our first priority.”
Fann, House Speaker Rusty Bowers and a handful of other Republican legislators accompanied Ducey to Yuma on Wednesday.
“Illegal crossings (not only) put our border towns, safety personnel and all Arizonans at risk,” Fann said, “but also the immigrants who are facing unsafe conditions as they cross into the state.”
Critics: Photo ops aren’t helping
Arizona’s two U.S. senators, both Democrats, also supported sending Guard members to provide support for local law enforcement and assist with medical operations in detention centers.
On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly said he had pressed White House officials for additional staffing, transportation and other resources to provide a “secure, orderly process that does not fall on Arizona communities.”
But Democratic lawmakers at the state level criticized Ducey for what they described as a series of political stunts.
“Taking on the difficult challenge of building a fair, functional, and humane system will take time,” state Rep. Lorenzo Sierra, D-Avondale, said Wednesday.
“After four years of destruction, change doesn’t happen with the flip of a switch, and we encourage Gov. Ducey to work with the Biden administration on real solutions and not photo ops.”
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero accused the governor of wasting taxpayer dollars.
“If Gov. Ducey was truly committed to helping, he would be supporting the efforts of local governments and (nonprofit groups) to provide humanitarian care,” including housing asylum seekers at local hotels, she said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, the governor is more concerned with raising his national profile.”