Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced plans Monday to ramp up the busing of migrants out of the state, ahead of an expected surge in immigration when Title 42, a Trump-era expulsion order, ends May 11.
Hobbs’ plan includes increasing the busing of migrants to other areas of the state and other parts of the country, she said during a press conference. Border Patrol sectors in Arizona are over their capacity, with Yuma reaching 213% capacity as of Monday morning, according to an internal Border Patrol document obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: ‘Bear The Brunt’: Dems Rip Biden’s Plan To Handle Migrant Surge After Trump-Era Border Policy’s End)
“My administration will continue to assist with the transportation of migrants to their final destination,” Hobbs said. “DEMA [Department of Emergency and Military Affairs] will assist, provide and coordinate the best and safest mode of transportation for migrants.”
“By doing this, we can mitigate the impact of the increased migration on our border communities. We will make sure that the most cost-effective method of transportation is being used and that there is clear coordination between sponsors and NGOs,” Hobbs said.
Arizona’s director of emergency management, Allen Clark, said that migrants will be transported to destinations both inside and outside of Arizona.
“Under this governor, we’ve been asked to expand that to other states, also intrastate. So we will be helping with buses to move people from rural parts of Arizona to more populated parts of Arizona and then further out of the state of Arizona as needed,” Clark said.
Hobbs’ plan also includes assessing the preparedness of local shelters and nonprofit organizations serving migrants. It also seeks to rely on keeping state troopers patrolling the roads for illegal activity.
“We’re increasing transportation, we’re looking at sheltering options and then just the additional public safety aspect just making sure we’re increasing the coordination there,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs, however, couldn’t provide a number of troopers or additional resources that will be allocated to support Arizona’s border communities.
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When it comes to shelter capacity, Hobbs also couldn’t provide any specific details.
“We don’t know the numbers because we don’t know the numbers. We don’t know what the need is actually going to be. We’re dealing a lot with speculation,” Hobbs said.
“We know that today the shelters in Tucson are at capacity and we’re on Monday and this is gonna increase on Thursday,” Hobbs said.
The Democratic governor also said she’s considering deploying members of the national guard, adding that she’s yet to finalize anything.
Hobbs said she requested support from the Biden administration, but hadn’t received a response.
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