Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) publicly criticized the Biden administration for failing to gain control of the southern border during a major speech overviewing her first year in office.
“Day in and day out, I hear from leaders on the border who need support because they are stepping up where the federal government can’t or won’t,” Hobbs said Monday afternoon during the Arizona State of the State address in Phoenix.
The Democrat didn’t refer to President Joe Biden by name but noted “the federal government has so clearly failed” to secure the border.
Hobbs’s first address last year touted her focus on public education and the state’s water supply, but this year, she led with the issue of border security.
Throughout her first year in office, Hobbs said local and state government offices pleaded with her office for help because Washington had ignored its pleas.
“They asked for boots on the ground, improved communication systems, resources to combat human trafficking, and the latest technologies to keep communities on both sides of the border safe, and I delivered, Hobbs said. “Every Arizonian should know we are taking significant and meaningful steps to keep them safe even when the federal government refuses to.”
Hobbs, who narrowly defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in 2022, most recently visited the state’s border with Mexico in early December, days after she sent Biden a letter in which she told him to reassign military to the hard-hit area and reimburse Arizona for $512 million spent responding to the border crisis.
Absent federal action, Hobbs activated the state’s National Guard forces to supplement already-present military forces on the border under federal orders. The state guardsmen, as well as Arizona state troopers, were sent down to the border under the state’s Operation Secure, an initiative to surge state resources.
“This session I’m seeking ongoing funding to better coordinate our border response and continue fighting this humanitarian, economic, and enforcement crisis,” Hobbs said. “This new funding will expand the operation with critical investments in border security as well as resources to intercept the flow of fentanyl.”
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Illegal immigration through the Tucson region of Arizona began to rise six months ago and has ticked up in recent weeks from 12,000 arrests per week to nearly 19,000 per week in late December.
One international border crossing, the Lukeville Port of Entry, was closed at the federal government’s order in early December as the Biden administration chose to redirect customs officers to help Border Patrol agents arrest illegal immigrants who crossed by walking around the port. The monthlong port closure forced all American and Mexican residents to drive several hours to the next closest port of entry in Nogales.
