A move by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to scrap a Border Strike Force in the state is drawing criticism from Republicans in the state, though it has the backing of at least one Democrat.
Hobbs, a Democrat, said she plans to redirect funding for the strike force, which was founded in 2015 by former governor Doug Ducey, and said the money could be used to coordinate a law enforcement effort at the border .
“What our budget aims to do is reallocate those resources where they can be most targeted. I’ve said this before, recent reporting has indicated it’s not a force, it’s not catching on at the border, and so can we repurpose those dollars to where they can be more useful in terms of coordinating a law enforcement action at the border,” she said during a tour of the border with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
According to the website, the force is part of the Arizona Department of Public Safety and “does not focus solely on border crime, but provides a comprehensive collaborative approach to help secure the Arizona border and thwart transnational criminal organizations.”
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FILE – Katie Hobbs, Governor of Arizona, delivers her State of the State Address on January 9, 2023 at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix. (AP photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)
The agency’s mission includes identifying and cracking down on transnational criminal organizations and strengthening deterrence efforts targeting smugglers and drug traffickers.
“The BSF operations focus on roaming patrol details of criminal interdictions, intelligence-led operations in remote areas, outgoing details and deterrent saturation patrols to identify, deter, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations,” it says.
However, Hobbs has referenced reporting by the Arizona Republic, which sow doubt about the unit’s work and found that most of the work took place outside the four main frontier provinces, though it reported that the force had made some “impressive” drug busts. Jeffrey Glover, the new head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, also said recently that he supports the move to divert funding.
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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs addresses students as First Lady Jill Biden visits Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz., Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, to highlight how affordable community college programs like Mesa College Promise provide students with career-related learning opportunities that lead to high-paying jobs . ((Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool))
The decision to ditch the force has the backing of one of the most high-profile Democrats in the state — U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., whose office highlighted the general need for resources on the border.
“The most important thing to Senator Kelly is getting resources where they are needed most, which this move will continue to do, so that law enforcement has the tools they need to stop drug and human trafficking while keeping our communities safe.” spokesman Marisol Samayoa said. told Fox News Digital.
Republicans in the House caucus, however, threw themselves into the move, saying it is part of a pattern set by the Hobbs administration and will only serve to weaken border security in the state, just as it continues to deal with a historic migrant crisis.
“In the same way that Joe Biden destroyed our country with his welcome support for the protracted lawlessness and drug crisis along our southern border, Katie Hobbs is destroying Arizona in three short months since taking office through her reckless dismantling of the Border Strike Task Force. said Representative Paul Gosar. “Countless people will die because of Hobbs’ open border policy.”
Rep. Andy Biggs called the move “embarrassing”.
“The courageous members of the Arizona Border Strike Force Bureau keep Arizona residents safer every day. There is no rational reason to undermine border and national security efforts in the midst of a historic border crisis,” he said.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., said Governor Hobbs’ decision to scrap the border strike force was “unacceptable” and that it was “created to help fight the criminal cartels that now freely smuggle migrants and carry record amounts of deadly drugs across our southern border.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rep. Debbie Lesko said the force was “established to help fight the criminal cartels that are now freely smuggling migrants and record quantities of deadly drugs across our southern border.”
“It is unacceptable for Governor Hobbs to take away this important resource intended to restore Arizona border security and stop the criminal cartels,” she said.
Rep. Eli Crane, meanwhile, said the dismantling is “foolish and indicative of her party’s cowardly and destructive border policies.”
“The Border Strike Task Force was created to protect the communities of Arizona from international criminal organizations — namely, the Mexican cartels that plague our southern border with illegal drug smuggling and human trafficking,” said Crane.
Crane accused Hobbs of “having done nothing to secure our border or make Arizona’s families safer.”
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“Instead of working tirelessly to protect the families of Arizona from the deadly effects of Mexican fentanyl and sex traffickers, she is too busy waging war against “hair discrimination” and vetoing common-sense budget proposals that ordinary residents of Arizona would help Now, in announcing plans to launch the Border Strike Task Force, she joins Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden, among others, in actively exacerbating the crisis on our border.
The move comes amid an ongoing battle in Washington DC and border states over the ongoing crisis. Republicans blame the wave of migrants on the Biden administration’s “open-border” policy, while Democrats and the administration have targeted Republicans for not agreeing to requests for border funding from the government.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at [email protected] or at Twitter.
