Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who recently deployed the National Guard to the United States-Mexico Border, lambasted the White House on Wednesday for a series of “mixed signals” as he blamed President Joe Biden for the crisis at the border.
“We are getting whiplash out here from all the mixed signals [the White House is] sending,” he said during a press conference in Yuma, Arizona. “The media reports that there’s already finger-pointing and a blame game going on inside the administration for who’s responsible for this mess, but there is one person who can fix this: the president of the United States.”
He continued: “President Biden, if you care about the border, if you care about stopping the cartels who are engaging in all kinds of bad acts … if you want to stop the disaster that’s unfolding here [that] will only get worse in the coming months … you should declare a national emergency and deploy the vast powers of your administration to stop what’s happening here,” adding that the situation in Arizona is a “Biden-caused mess.”
On Tuesday, the Republican governor declared a state of emergency and surged 250 National Guard members to the southern border to stem the unprecedented influx of migrants. The division, which will be helmed by Brig. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck, will “assist with medical operations,” set up cameras, monitor data, and “analyze satellite imagery” for smuggling trends. The governor said his move resulted from inaction at the White House.
ARIZONA GOVERNOR DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AND SURGES NATIONAL GUARD TO THE BORDER
“The situation in our border communities is just as bad — if not worse — than the coverage we’ve been seeing,” Ducey said in a statement at the time. “It’s become evidently clear that Arizona needs the National Guard, and the White House is aware of that. Yet, to this day, there has been no action from this administration, and it doesn’t look like they are going to act any time soon. If this administration isn’t going to do anything, then we will.”
San Luis Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Sanchez, who was present alongside Ducey on Wednesday, said his “small” community is reeling from a strain on Border Patrol resources because the area counts on its law enforcement assistance.
“We’re a small community. We’re not a rich community,” he said. “We don’t have the number of officers needed for the amount of population that we have. We’re, like, close to 12, 14 officers. When I had a meeting with the chief of Border Patrol two weeks ago and we discussed the issue, when I hear that the Border Patrol is being overwhelmed, when I hear they’re not able to be in our streets in our area — that’s worrisome because when our police officers are in deep trouble or they need something, Border Patrol has always been there.”
“And now, we don’t see them. They’re doing something else, and that’s creating a crisis,” he added.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels claimed that cameras in the area observed 300 illegal crossings in March 2020, a number that has since ballooned to approximately 3,400 in March 2021. Since early January, his office has witnessed over 7,400 illegal entries, law enforcement officers have arrested 33 drug smugglers, and authorities have seized around 800 pounds of illegal drugs.
Ducey’s action follows a report from Customs and Border Protection that agents witnessed 172,000 attempted illegal crossings in the month of March alone, the highest number in 15 years. The number dwarfed the 100,000 who tried to do the same in February and the 78,000 who attempted to gain entry in January.
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Biden has faced bipartisan backlash for his handling of the crisis as those in top positions in his orbit scramble to find alternative housing for a wave of unaccompanied migrant children. The administration has opened well over a dozen new buildings to handle the surge, but facilities across the country still struggle to accommodate the minors amid the pandemic.
