MISSION, Texas — Arizona Governor Doug Ducey joined 9 fellow republican governors in Texas this morning to announce a policy framework to deal with the southwest border.
The group was among the 26 Republican governors who wrote a letter to President Biden two weeks ago requesting a White House meeting to discuss border issues. The governor’s never received a response to the letter.
Today’s announcement was made in Mission, Texas, a border town along the Rio Grande River in deep south Texas.
The governors want the Biden Administration to continue refusing entry to all immigrants coming into the country due to COVID-19.
The Trump Administration initially refused immigrants from coming into the U.S. for health safety reasons, while the Biden Administration does deny entry, the governors say a growing number of migrant families and unaccompanied minors who tested positive for COVID are being released in the U.S.
The governors are also calling for more federal resources to fight human trafficking and drug trafficking.
According to Governor Ducey’s Office, border officials have seized almost 2,000 pounds of fentanyl and over 13,000 pounds of methamphetamine in Arizona’s border sectors this year.
The Governor’s Office says fentanyl overdoses have replaced car accidents as the leading cause of death for people aged 19 and younger in Pima County.
The governors also want a return of Trump border policies which include keeping potential immigrants in Mexico while they wait for an Immigration hearing, resume building a border wall and invest in other border security infrastructure.
On Friday, a U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Blinken, will travel to Mexico City to take part in the first U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue (HLSD).
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland will also be part of the delegation which will focus on security challenges, transborder crime and human rights.
Governor Ducey has been critical of President Biden’s border policies almost from the first day he took office. Ducey extended invitations to the President, Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas to visit Arizona’s border. To date none have taken him up on the offer.
The Arizona Democratic Party referred to the Governor’s trip to Texas as nothing more than a political stunt.
Party Chairman Raquel Teran said,“ Doug Ducey has decided to leave the state entirely to try and score cheap political points as he eyes his next political move. Donald Trump and his administration spent four years systematically dismantling our immigration system.” Teran said the Biden administration is trying to fix it.
