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Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs highlighted her administration’s work to embed National Guard soldiers at the border to help combat drug trafficking, while pledging to work with the new Trump administration on border security , while visiting the border in Nogales on Monday.
But in response to reporters’ questions, she also indicated she would oppose President-elect Donald Trump’s threatened mass deportations, which she said would take resources away from initiatives addressing real problems at the border.
“I will not tolerate misguided policies that don’t actually advance the critical work that’s happening here, that you see here today, that actually keeps our communities safe,” Hobbs said. “I will not tolerate terrorizing communities or threatening Arizonans.”
The Democratic governor declined to comment on specific actions the governor’s office might take in response to any increased deportation efforts.
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“We will absolutely respond appropriately once we know what these threats look like and how we can respond effectively,” Hobbs said. “I will work with the (Trump) administration if it benefits Arizonans. And if I have to stand up to them because their actions will harm the people of Arizona, I will.”
During the news conference at the Mariposa port of entry, Hobbs said there are now more than 40 National Guard troops embedded at the border with U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel under her administration’s “Task Force SAFE,” which is in started in July.
They are part of 170 National Guard soldiers embedded with law enforcement agencies across the state as part of the National Guard’s existing anti-drug program, she said.
“When I launched Task Force SAFE, it wasn’t about making headlines,” she said. “I saw an opportunity for the state to step in, to mobilize our resources to make a tangible difference in partnership with federal agencies.”
Hobbs
Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press
Since the summer, the task force has been involved in the seizure of more than six million fentanyl pills and more than 1,400 pounds of meth, cocaine, fentanyl powder and heroin, she said. At Arizona ports of entry, guards are stationed with secondary search teams, railroad inspection teams and vehicle breakdown teams.
“Every fentanyl pill taken off the streets, every gram of heroin seized, every gram of cocaine stopped is a serious blow to the cartels and drug traffickers harming Arizonans. They represent lives saved, families protected and communities strengthened,” Hobbs said.
CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said the task force is a “force multiplier.”
“It’s an operational advantage,” Miller said at the news conference. “It helps us identify and seize the fentanyl that transnational criminal organizations are trying to flood our streets with. But it also allows our CBP personnel to focus on their critical law enforcement missions, while keeping the legitimate commerce and travel that keeps our nation’s economy moving.”
Hobbs said the task force is part of her administration’s efforts to tackle drug trafficking, including signing legislation to crack down on major fentanyl traffickers, providing $84 million to law enforcement agencies along the border and supporting treatment programs for veterans .
Hobbs’ press conference comes after an election in which Republicans strengthened their majority in the state legislature, and in which Arizonans voted to pass Proposition 314a Republican-led measure — based on legislation vetoed by Hobbs — that would allow state and local police to arrest people entering Arizona from Mexico outside a port of entry, if a similar law from Texas is enforced which is being challenged by the US government.
Opponents say this will result in racial profiling, erode community trust in law enforcement and burden already underfunded local law enforcement agencies.
Republican Governors Association representative Kollin Crompton called Hobbs’ news conference a “dog-and-pony show” in an emailed statement Monday.
“Arizonans know that Hobbs has been pursuing the same open border agenda that just toppled the Biden-Harris administration, and they are prepared to hold her accountable,” Crompton said.
Migrant rights advocates have lamented Democrats’ shift to the right on immigration issues, such as President Joe Biden’s June executive order limiting access to asylum for migrants entering the country between ports of entry.
Under U.S. law, it is legal to seek asylum once on U.S. soil, regardless of how one entered the country.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris also failed to act in defense of the immigrant community, said immigrant rights activist Isabel García, co-founder of the Tucson collective “Stop the Hate” and an attorney with Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
“The country is in the grip of this anti-immigrant sentiment. Harris’ message and everyone else’s was: ‘We are Trump Lite,’” García said. “We cannot vote for Trump Lite because it is disastrous for our community, and that is why the Democrats lost.”
Hobbs also failed to mention Monday that the vast majority of fentanyl is smuggled into the country by U.S. citizens through official ports of entry, García said.
“This morning there was still a lot of hysteria about border security, talk about fentanyl — but there was no mention that this really isn’t about migrants,” she said Monday afternoon.
The Arizona Daily Star reported On Friday, Hobbs announced that he has declined to join other Democratic governors in a group formed to actively oppose some of the policies of the new Trump administration.
Many of those governors are far from the border, García said.
“We felt it was quite a betrayal because she (Hobbs) should have represented Arizona and our reality” in that group, she said.
Hobbs said Monday she will work with everyone to “secure our border.”
“The people of Arizona and this nation want more than words – they want results. They want politicians to view the border as more than a convenient photo opportunity,” Hobbs said. “Protecting our border is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It’s an Arizona and America issue.”
Contact reporter Emily Bregel at [email protected]. On X, formerly Twitter: @EmilyBregel
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