Arizona Governor Doug Ducey urged President Biden on Wednesday to declare a national border emergency, a day after the Republican governor deployed the National Guard and issued an emergency declaration in response to the migrant crisis .
“ President Biden, if you care about the border, if you care about stopping the cartels engaged in all manner of evil … if you want to stop the disaster that is unfolding here and will only get worse in the coming months, President Biden, you must declare a national emergency and use the enormous powers of your government to end what is happening here, ”Ducey said at a news conference on the Yuma border.
ARIZONA DEM SENS. SINEMA, KELLY BACK GOVERNOR MUST USE NATIONAL GUARD TO BORDER
Ducey announced Tuesday that he is deploying 250 National Guard members to help deal with the escalating numbers, which have seen record encounters with migrants and overwhelming local authorities. He attended the border meeting with local law enforcement and border officials about the crisis and related security threats.
The guard will be involved in installing and maintaining border cameras, collecting data, analyzing images for trends at border crossings and assisting with operations in detention centers, Ducey’s office said.
The Biden administration has refused to call the situation a “crisis”, but instead calling it a “challenge” and blaming the Trump administration for ending legal asylum trajectories. Critics have blamed the Biden administration for rolling back Trump-era enforcement and border protection.
Ducey has blamed the White House’s alleged inaction and lack of planning.
“We’re getting whiplash from all the mixed signals you’re sending out,” he said on Wednesday.
ARIZONA GOV. DUCEY IMPLEMENTS NATIONAL GUARD AT THE SOUTH BORDER DURING MIGRANT CRISIS
Ducey had considered deploying the Guard, but had urged the federal government to pay the state upfront for the deployment. On Wednesday, he confirmed that the costs have so far been paid by the state.
“We are willing to pay for this from our own budget, even though it is a federal responsibility and the costs must be covered by the federal government,” he said.
Ducey is supported by his Democratic senators. Both Sens. Mark Kelly as Kyrsten Sinema expressed support for the steps. Both senators later wrote to President Biden urging him to compensate Arizona for the deployment of the National Guard.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We know that the National Guard can provide important assistance at the border and we note that about 500 Guardsmen have already been deployed in the Yuma and Tucson sectors,” the Democrats wrote in a letter. “As such, we request that you repay the State of Arizona for the commitment the Governor announced yesterday to support border security and continue to expand the DHS staff who can further assist in the processing of migrants, border and carry out important security missions “