(Los Angeles) The Democratic governor of Arizona, in the southwest of the United States, announced Friday that she would send National Guard soldiers to her state’s border with Mexico, accusing the administration of Joe Biden to “refuse to do his job” in the face of the influx of migrants.
Katie Hobbs, whose state is being eyed by Republicans in the upcoming elections, last week blasted her Democratic comrade in the White House after his decision to close a border crossing.
PHOTO REBECCA NOBLE, NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs
“Once again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border,” the governor said in her Friday order.
“Arizona needs the resources and hands to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the influx of migrants, and preserve a secure, orderly, and humane border,” she said.
“Despite repeated requests for help, the Biden administration has refused to provide desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border,” the governor added.
Several towns near the Lukeville border crossing depend on it for their economic survival, and its closure has affected families on both sides of the border.
One year before the 2024 presidential election, illegal immigration is a highly political subject in the United States, with Republicans accusing the ruling Democrats of having transformed the borders into a sieve.
And some Democrats in key states, like Arizona, are in the hot seat over the issue.
From January to the end of September 2023, Border Patrol agents recorded some 2.4 million encounters with migrants — a record — both at official points of entry into the United States, and elsewhere along from the southern border.
In October alone, they recorded an additional 240,000.
Donald Trump displays fiery rhetoric on immigration, which his electoral base welcomes. The former president, favorite for the Republican primaries, notably promised to use the army to completely close the border, without providing a detailed program.
The issue is thorny for Joe Biden, who faces calls on the left for a more humane migration system, while on the right he is urged to put in place more rigorous controls.