Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs asked Congress on Wednesday to support a request by Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) to provide more than $750 million in funding to support the southern border.
While Hobbs urged the U.S. Congress to take action on the border, her letter came after she vetoed a Republican-backed bill that would have made it a state crime to enter Arizona outside official ports of entry.
“I want to express my full support for the request” by Sinema and Kelly, wrote Hobbs, “to allocate no less than $752 million towards the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Shelter and Services Program (SSP)” as they consider 2024 funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Sinema made the request in a February 29 letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
Hobbs additionally urged Congress to reconsider the border security and foreign aid bill that Republicans defeated over concerns it would allow a certain number of illegal immigrants daily and spend more money on Ukraine than the United States.
“This funding is not merely a request; it is a necessity and serves as the linchpin in addressing the complex challenges on our border and ensuring the safety and security of our communities,” Hobbs argued.
The governor additionally suggested politicians are using Arizona as “a convenient location for politicians to take photo ops and stage press conferences” in a press release.
While Hobbs seeks additional funding for the shelters illegal immigrants use after entering the country, her recent veto of the Arizona Border Invasion Act means the state’s law enforcement agencies will not be given the power to arrest those who enter the state illegally.
The governor claimed in a letter the bill “does not secure the border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system.”
She also claimed to have concerns about the bill’s constitutionality that could cost Arizona money to fight in court if it were to become law and then be challenged.
An estimated 7.2 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States under the Biden administration, and recently Republicans in the U.S. House demanded answers from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after the Center for Immigration Studies revealed the agency has flown about 320,000 illegal immigrants directly into the United States from Latin America.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
