Arizona Latino Caucus Urges Governor Ducey to Stop Playing Political Games with the Border

The Arizona Latino Legislative Caucus released the following statement on Governor’s Ducey spending $25 million in Arizona taxpayer money to send the National Guard to the Arizona border.

“Legislative Republicans and Governor Ducey are skipping work today for a photo-op at the border in a transparent act of political theatre that will cost Arizona taxpayers $25 million. Meanwhile Arizonans continue to be impacted by COVID pandemic, a real crisis that Republicans still refuse to adequately address. Yesterday was the 100th day of Session and Republicans have done no work on passing the people’s budget to get resources to Arizona families and businesses struggling through the pandemic. From day one, the Biden Administration has been deeply engaged in monitoring the border and marshaling all resources of the government to find compassionate and fair solutions to help migrants at our border.

America’s immigration system was decimated over the last four years with children cruelly separated from their parents. There were insufficient policies, procedures, and training in place to administer our immigration laws. The prior administration’s border policies were chaotic, cruel, and ineffective. Now the Biden Administration is working urgently to move unaccompanied minors to HHS facilities and finally with family or sponsors. On his first day in office, President Biden sent the U.S. Citizenship Act to Congress to provide a path to citizenship, crack down on smugglers and traffickers and provide more funding and resources for immigration courts to clear the asylum backlog. The Biden Admin is working closely with Congress to identify long term reforms and solutions. This is the type of action that will address the issues at our border. Taking on the difficult challenge of building a fair, functional, and humane system will take time. After four years of destruction, change doesn't happen with the flip of a switch,and we encourage Governor Ducey to work with the Biden Administration on real solutions and not photo-ops.”