Before Arizona Gov. Hobbs Deployed National Guard, She Neutered Border Security Measures
Having it both ways? As more and more local politicians call for aid to help with the increasing cost of illegal immigrant influx, Hobb’s new hawkish rhetoric conflicts with her own immigration record and past statements on the matter, contradicting a more permissive campaign theme that aligned with the “open borders” approach.
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday deployed the National Guard to the southern border amid the unprecedented surge in illegal immigrant arrivals under the Biden administration.
She further pleaded with Washington to send further aid, admonishing the Biden administration for not responding to her request for $512 million to reimburse the state for border security expenses it had already incurred.
“Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” she said. “With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t… “Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border.”
Despite the hawkish rhetoric, however, Hobbs’s own immigration record and past statements on the matter reflect a more permissive attitude that aligns somewhat with the administration.
Hobbs called a temporary border wall a “political stunt” and sold off the shipping containers
While running for governor, Hobbs slammed then-GOP Gov. Doug Ducey’s move to use shipping containers as a temporary border wall to plug gaps in the Yuma sector of the frontier.
“It’s a political stunt. It’s a visual barrier that is not actually providing an effective barrier to entry, and I think a waste of taxpayer dollars,” she said, according to KJZZ. This echoed the White House’s position, who has as recently as January of this year said the practice was a “shameful” political maneuver. Arizona set aside $15 million in its budget this year to pay for transporting migrants, and the busing program was estimated to cost $1 million per month, according to The Arizona Republic.
Ducey later reached an agreement with the Biden administration to remove the barrier so that the federal government could erect a permanent one. Hobbs, for her part, announced plans this year to auction off the containers.
She praised Biden’s immigration policy earlier this year
In January, upon taking office, Hobbs celebrated the Biden’s administration’s approach to border security, saying “I am encouraged by the White House’s recent actions to finally visit the border and to start proposing real steps to begin addressing the problems of the current system.”
“And while optimistic, I will also continue to push Congress to do its job and pass comprehensive immigration reform,” she continued, according to the Associated Press.
Her speech came amid President Joe Biden’s visit to the southern border, a trip that conservatives criticized as a public relations stunt amid reports that border officials had swept away migrant camps near El Paso, Texas, to present a more organized backdrop to his official visit…..
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