Prominent national officials and local elected officials held a press conference this week at the Arizona State Capitol demanding that Gov. Doug Ducey do something about the “border invasion.” The officials were responding to Ducey’s final State of the State Address, which focused on the border crisis. The numbers of illegal immigrants coming across the southern border, especially into Arizona, has skyrocketed since the Biden administration took office, with migrant counters in the Yuma sector up 2,405%.
Ken Cuccinelli, deputy secretary of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump and former Attorney General of Virginia, said, “It takes not just the governor, but a commitment of these legislative folks right here.” Due to all the dangerous drugs coming across the border, “Every town, in Arizona and across the country, is now a border town.”
He explained how to do it, “Arizona has the power under the Constitution to decide it is being invaded, and repel that invasion without permission from anybody else, including the federal government. … Every governor is the commander-in-chief of your state’s forces, not just the National Guard, but your civilian law enforcement as well.”
He said it’s time to use “war powers,” but not for anything other than confronting illegal border crossers and returning them across the border. He said Ducey has the power today and the support of legislators behind him.
Responding to a question from a reporter, Cuccinelli said the solution is simple: thumbprint illegal immigrants and return them back to Mexico. “You’re not building facilities, you’re not holding [them] for long periods of time. This is not immigration.” He said two years ago, 85% to 90% of illegal border crossers were returned by “doing exactly what I described to you.” He explained, “If Arizona becomes difficult to cross into, they won’t enter Arizona.”
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump, said, “We need governors who are going to say, ‘We are going to unilaterally secure the border based on the self-help provisions that are reflected in the United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3.” Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, where Cuccinelli is a Senior Fellow for Immigration and Homeland Security.
That clause, know as the Guaranty Clause, provides, “No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.”
State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who led the event, said there has been a 1,666% increase in homicide and manslaughter, 511% increase in assault, battery, and domestic violence arrests in the past year (fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2121). There was a 314% increase in DUI arrests and 187% increase in sexual offenses. U.S. Customs & Border Patrol reported a 95% increase in fentanyl seized.
Hoffman corrected a reporter asking a question about whether “migration” was an invasion. “You framed it as immigraton that’s coming across the border. It’s not immigration that’s coming across the border when you talk about drug trafficking, and human traffickers, and sex traffickers. That’s not immigration, that’s illegal activity. That’s criminal behavior.”
“This is not just a border state issue anymore, this is a national issue,” Hoffman said. The Biden administration is transporting migrants from the border to other parts of the country and dropping them off. He declared, “This is time for Arizona to lead, not just with talk, but with action.”
State Rep. Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) said that he has served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and can recognize an invasion. “This is an invasion. I have seen this before. … It is time Governor Ducey stands up and does what he said was going to do in the State of the State. … 6,000 folks are coming across our border every single day.”
State Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-Bisbee) clarified, “We are not against immigration. … What we are is a nation without borders isn’t a nation at all.” He went on, “We need to control, and meter those who are coming through.” He referenced Biblical times, when God set borders and instructed people to maintain those borders and/or assimilate. He explained how his grandfather and grandmother picked cotton in California, Nevada, and Utah, and his mother paid to take citizenship classes.
State Rep. Biasiucci (R-Lake Havasu) said Ducey asked the Biden administration for help, but got no help. “The fact we know women and children are being raped on their journey through to the United States is despicable. Do we sit and do nothing?” State Rep. Sonny Borelli (R-Lake Havusu) observed, “This is organized crime we’re fighting.”
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake recently called for the creation of an interstate compact for border security to go around the federal government. She said the situation is so urgent it should be implemented now under Ducey.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
