Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announces new border security strategies in Nogales
NOGALES, Ariz. - Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced new strategies to stop illegal drugs and border crossings during a trip to southern Arizona on Nov. 18.
Surrounded by Customs and Border Protection agents, National Guard troops, and dozens of pounds of seized fentanyl, methamphetamine and guns, Gov. Hobbs said border security programs created under her administration are working. The news conference at the Nogales Port of Entry, however, had an elephant in the room.
"I will not tolerate misguided policies that don’t actually help with the critical work that you’re seeing here today, that actually keeps our communities safe and secure," said Gov. Hobbs. "I will not tolerate terrorizing communities or threatening Arizonians."
Hobbs was implying the border policies of the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will secure the U.S. - Mexico Border, vowing mass deportations and confirming on Truth Social that he would do so by declaring a national emergency, and using military assets.
"What we’re presented with is a whole slew of threats, but [we] don’t necessarily know the details of what those will look like," said Gov. Hobbs.
That includes the recently-passed Proposition 314. The measure, also known as the "Secure The Border Act," allows local law enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants. Gov. Hobbs has called the measure an unfunded mandate, and one without clear implementation.
"Sheriffs' Offices are underfunded," said Gov. Hobbs. "They have a job already, and this just compounds that."
Gov. Hobbs says she will continue doing what she says is working at the state’s ports of entry - namely, coordinating with local and federal agencies, issuing harsher sentences for traffickers, and using the National Guard as a force multiplier to seize millions of pounds of illicit drugs, while funding a variety of programs that fight the Fentanyl crisis.
"We will have conversations with the incoming administration about efforts we think will harm that really critical relationship for both Arizona and the country," said Gov. Hobbs.
Republican leaders, meanwhile, are calling Hobbs' border visit too little, too late.
"We've tried everything we can to pass laws to enforce the federal laws that are not being enforced. Well, now they're saying, 'Hey, we're going to enforce the federal laws.' So it's, you know, she's kind of irrelevant in a way. And quite frankly, the bill, the proposition we just passed off the ballot, in a way, is irrelevant because President Trump, the federal government, is actually going to enforce the law," Arizona State Senate President Warren Peterson said.