Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is demanding that the federal government pay more than a half-billion dollars in “reimbursement” to deal with the financial crisis created by President Joe Biden’s failure to secure the southern border.
In the letter released on Dec. 8 by Ms. Hobbs, the Democrat governor is seeking more than $512 million in federal funds to reimburse state spending on illegal immigrant-related expenses, including transportation, drug interdiction, law enforcement, and other costs “due to the federal government’s failure to secure our border.”
Ms. Hobbs cited the Dec. 4 closure of one of the state’s busiest port-of-entries in Lukeville, Arizona—where agents were transferred from the crossing to help arrest and process a surge of migrants walking across the border to claim asylum—as an example of how the Biden administration’s open border policies have led to massive disruptions for Arizonians.
“For far too long, Arizona has continued to bear the burden of federal inaction in managing our southern border,” Ms. Hobbs wrote in the letter, which she released publicly on social media. “The 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.”
“Our ports of entry are essential to our state and our country’s economy, and it is vital that they be properly staffed and resourced to continue to fuel economic growth in the state,” she added.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
The CBP claimed in a statement that the agency was forced to redeploy staff from the port of entry due to changing circumstances at the border.
“In response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals, CBP is surging all available resources to expeditiously and safely process migrants,” the statement read. “CBP will continue to prioritize our border security mission as necessary in response to this evolving situation.”
