Gov. Doug Ducey said Tuesday that he is going to put 250 Arizona National Guard soldiers along the state’s border with Mexico, as he declared an emergency in six counties.
Ducey said the troops will be there to help provide support for state and local law enforcement “as the nation experiences a rapid increase in apprehensions and migrant children in federal custody.”
He intends to provide up to $25 million in initial state funding.
“The situation in our border communities is just as bad — if not worse — than the coverage we’ve been seeing,’’ the governor said in a video news release.
Ducey, who has taken a lead role among Republicans on border issues, said it’s the president’s fault, saying there have been “very real consequences of the Biden administration’s failed policies.’’
He mentioned there have been more than 170,000 apprehensions along the entire U.S.-Mexico border since the beginning of the year, with almost 19,000 unaccompanied minors taken into custody.
“The numbers don’t lie,’’ he said. “This surge is a direct result of the bad policies coming out of Washington, D.C.’’
But what Ducey did not say is that there has been a steady increase in illegal crossings for nearly a year — back into the Trump administration — after they dropped following the COVID-19 outbreak.
In fact, Customs and Border Protection reported that crossings during the last three months of 2020 were higher than at any similar point during the Trump administration.
Ducey, who chose to make the announcement via video rather than at a press conference where he could be asked questions, said state action is needed now.
“Local law enforcement and mayors are calling out for help,’’ he said in his video. “Citizens in our border communities are concerned for their safety. And nonprofits left to pick up the pieces of broken federal policies are strained.’’
The emergency covers Cochise, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties. The order authorizes the adjutant general to mobilize all or part of the Guard “as is determined necessary to assist in the protection of life and property throughout the state.’’
The soldiers will not be armed, said gubernatorial press aide C.J. Karamargin.
According to Ducey, the soldiers will assist with medical operations in detention centers, install and maintain border cameras, monitor and collect data from public safety cameras, and analyze satellite imagery for current trends in smuggling corridors.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, a Republican, said that’s exactly what he needs. “The big thing they’re going to do for us is do non-law-enforcement functions,’’ he said.
Some of that, Dannels said, is providing help in the jails. But he also said Guard soldiers can watch the system of cameras he has set up “so we have true eyes on what’s going on out there.’’
“So they’ll be relieving my guys who do that ... so my deputies can focus more on the enforcement aspect,’’ Dannels said.
Ducey said the troops could do more if the Biden administration would mobilize — and presumably pay for — Guard deployment, as the soldiers would be able to work with federal law enforcement.
“If President Biden does the right thing and acts, they will be able to support ICE and CBP, two agencies that desperately need all the support they can get,’’ Ducey said.
“But it doesn’t look like this administration is going to act any time soon,’’ he continued. “And we’re not going to sit around and wait any longer.’’
State Sen. Victoria Steele, D-Tucson, called the move “political grandstanding.’’ She said the state has secured $110 million in emergency federal funding from the American Rescue Plan, crafted by the Biden administration, to support local government and nonprofits that are providing care to migrants at the border.
“Seriously, we’re going to spend $25 million in state money on this?’’ Steele asked in a Twitter post.
“Where were the Arizona Republicans when the Trump administration was ripping babies out of ... their mother’s and father’s arms?’’ she asked. “Where was the outrage then?’’
The deployment was called a “political ploy to depict a border ‘crisis’ when there is none’’ by Yvette Borja, a border litigation attorney for the ACLU of Arizona.
“Let’s be clear: The governor’s actions do nothing more than further militarize our border communities and stoke unnecessary and unjustified fear,’’ Borja said in a prepared statement.
But Ducey’s announcement also got what could be considered predictable accolades from Republican legislators.
“The security of Arizona and our residents is our first priority,’’ said Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, in a prepared statement released by Ducey’s office. “Illegal crossings put our border towns, safety personnel and all Arizonans at risk, but also the immigrants who are facing unsafe conditions as they cross into the state.’’
House Speaker Russell Bowers, R-Mesa, said the deployment “helps combat the Democrats’ misguided message that crossing the border illegally is acceptable.’’
Ducey said he is going to Yuma on Wednesday, April 21, to get more details from community leaders and local law enforcement about what they are seeing on the ground.
This will be the governor’s second trip to the border in as many months. Last month he flew to Douglas for a press conference right at the border fence surrounded almost exclusively by other Republican officials.
