Democrat Governor Slams Biden Admin ‘Refusing to Do Its Job’ At Border, Sends National Guard To Cope With ‘Crisis’

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Arizona’s Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs has ordered the AZ National Guard to the state’s southern border, calling the situation a “crisis” and rebuking the government’s inaction under President Joe Biden.

Hobbs issued the executive order a week after asking the Biden administration to take action following the indefinite closing of a border crossing on December 4th, causing what Hobbs called an “unmitigated humanitarian crisis.”

“I am taking action where the federal government won’t,” Hobbs said of the order.

The executive order declares that, “for far too long, Arizona has borne the burden of federal inaction in managing the State’s southern border,” and that “the federal government’s recent decision to close the Lukeville Port of Entry has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis in the area and has put Arizona’s safety and commerce at risk.”

That crossing was closed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection because agents needed help managing the massive number of crossings, with as many as several thousand undocumented migrants per day in addition to hundreds of illegal crossings. Customs and Border Protection stated that the port of entry was being closed “in response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals.”

The request sent by Hobbs on December 8 was for the federal government to reinforce Border Patrol with National Guard troops. Her executive order was issued after the Biden administration failed to do so.

“Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” she said in a statement.

Hobbs’s response to the inaction on her December 8 request for action and her executive order sending in National Guard troops constitutes “a notable rebuke of President Joe Biden by a fellow Democrat,” Reuters noted on Friday.

The Tohono O’odham Nation is also near the border crossing, and although no troops will be stationed on the reservation, tribal leaders said that the executive order is a “necessary step in addressing the current crisis at the border.”

Other Democrats have recently spoken out against the current administration’s handling of the border, notably to include Sen. John Fetterman.

The precise number of troops and the timing of their arrival to the crossing was not yet clear on Saturday.