LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (NewsNation) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has signed an executive order to deploy the National Guard to the state’s southern border.
Hobbs blamed the decision on a resulting “unmitigated humanitarian crisis in the area,” putting “Arizona’s safety and commerce at risk.”
The order comes after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the Lukeville, Arizona port of entry on Dec. 4 until further notice.
CBP confirmed to NewsNation a significant surge in migrant encounters this month, surpassing the previous November’s figures. CBP encountered roughly 130,000 migrants in the first 17 days of November. For the first 17 days in December, CBP reported about 167,000 encounters, according to a CBP source. That is a jump of 37,000 encounters, or 28%.
The Tucson sector takes the lead as it witnesses the most people self-surrendering to Border Patrol agents, mainly using holes cut by human smugglers in the border wall in the Lukeville area of Arizona.
Border agents have seized ten improvised explosive devices recovered near an entry point in the Tucson sector on the Mexican side. Images of these devices were provided to NewsNation by CBP.
It’s worth noting that Arizona previously encountered attempts to smuggle IEDs across the border in May.
Hobbs’s order also comes a week after she sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to reassign National Guard troops at the port of entry.
“Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border,” Hobbs wrote in a statement Friday.
Agents in the region express being overwhelmed, deeming the situation unsustainable. Multiple sectors are stretched beyond capacity, compelling agents and Office of Field Operations officers to be reassigned from checkpoints and other areas, leaving many parts of the southern border vulnerable. This creates opportunities for cartels to push through whatever and whoever via unmanned holes.
