Los Angeles (AFP) - Arizona's Democratic governor said Friday she is sending National Guard soldiers to areas around the US border with Mexico, accusing President Joe Biden's government of "refusing to do its job" on migration.
Katie Hobbs, whose state is a key target for Republicans, last week took fellow Democrat Biden to task after a major crossing was closed, purportedly to allow officials to concentrate their resources on stemming illegal migration.
"Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe," Hobbs said in her order Friday.
"With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won't.
"But we can't stand alone, Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly and humane border.
"Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona's border."
Several nearby communities depend on legal migration through the Lukeville crossing for their economic survival, and its closure has affected families who live on both sides of the border.
Immigration is a top issue for Republicans heading into a general election year, and Democrats like Hobbs in so-called "purple" states -- neither solidly red nor solidly blue -- are vulnerable.
Hobbs last week sent a joint letter to the White House with the state's two senators, Democrat Mark Kelly and independent Kyrsten Sinema, asking that the National Guard be deployed to re-open the Lukeville Crossing.
In the year to the end of September 2023, border patrol officers logged 2.4 million encounters with migrants -- a record high -- at both official ports of entry and elsewhere along the southern border.
In October alone there were a further 240,000 encounters.
Migration -- legal and otherwise -- will play a huge role in next year's presidential election, which looks set to pit 81-year-old incumbent Biden against 77-year-old Republican nativist Donald Trump.
While Trump's fiery rhetoric on immigration -- he has vowed he will use the military to completely shutter the border -- plays well with his rightwing base, he has not provided details of his plans.
For Biden, the issue is complicated as he tries to balance demands from many Americans for tougher controls with calls from the left of his party for a more humane immigration system.
Neither side seems ready to tackle the root-and-branch reform of the system that critics say is really needed.
