Los Angeles, USA, Dec 15 (EFE).- The governor of Arizona, Democrat Katie Hobbs, announced on Friday the deployment of the state’s National Guard to help manage the increasing flow of migrants in the Mexican border, which keeps one of its most important border ports closed.
The troops will assist agents from the Arizona Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement with border control activities.
The deployment is part of Operation Secure, launched by Hobbs at the beginning of the week to allocate more state resources to reinforce border security and assign more personnel to reopen the Lukeville port.
The border crossing has been closed since December 4 when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reassigned its staff to assist with migrant processing.
In a statement, the Democrat said she is taking action given the lack of response from President Joe Biden’s federal government.
“With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t. But we can’t stand alone,” Hobbs said.
“Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly and humane border. Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border,” she added.
Hobbs last week sent a letter to President Biden asking him to send resources and troops to help reopen the Lukeville port of entry, which has faced an increased flow of migrants in recent weeks.
According to CBP data, migrant apprehensions in the Tucson sector, which includes Lukeville, increased 140% in October and November 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year.
Human smugglers have chosen a remote location in Lukeville to drop off migrants seeking to surrender to Border Patrol and request asylum.
The CBP has said that access to that place is complicated and that the largest influx of migrants has not stopped so far in December, but on the contrary has increased.
The closure of the Lukeville crossing has affected the economies of Arizona and Mexico during one of the busiest times of the year. EFE
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