Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Urges Gov. Ducey to Declare an Invasion on the Ticking Time Bomb Border

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued a legal opinion in February declaring that Arizona has the constitutional authority to declare an invasion on its border with Mexico, but since Gov. Doug Ducey has not done so, Brnovich is now urging him to. In a letter sent to Ducey on July 6, Brnovich, who is running for U.S. Senate, laid out the reasons why.

“This horrible situation is a ticking time bomb,” Brnovich said. “It’s just a question of when, and not if, the unspeakable will occur.” He went on, “[W]e have every indication that the border crisis will continue to escalate. If there is more that we as a state can and should do, it can be pursued with your declaration of an ‘invasion’ at our southern border.”

Brnovich cited the arrest and then release of a suspected terrorist in Yuma, and said the cartels and gangs “have now assumed control of our southern border.”

After Brnovich’s legal opinion in February, Ducey’s spokesperson CJ Karamargin responded that the Arizona National Guard was enough to address the situation. “For Attorney General Brnovich to imply the Guard is not on our border does them a serious disservice and shows that he fails to appreciate the commitment these men and women have to protecting Arizona,” he said in a statement provided to media at the time.

Ducey declared a state of the emergency at the border in April 2021, sending some troops from the National Guard there, who have been extended through August. But many do not believe it was enough. In May 2021, state legislators passed a resolution demanding more federal assistance to deal with the border crisis. Even Arizona’s Democratic Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema issued statements demanding more help.

The National Guard is not authorized by existing law to arrest and detain migrants. Instead, those service members can only perform backup work for the Border Patrol, such as monitoring surveillance cameras and performing data analysis, which then frees Border Patrol agents to increase their migrant apprehensions. If Ducey declared an invasion, it would provide the legal authority for the National Guard or other law enforcement and military members to expand into this area and turn away migrants at the border.

Other parts of the Southwest already believe there is an invasion. Several counties in Texas have declared one, urging Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott to follow suit. National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto said Texas should have declared an invasion a long time ago…. (Excerpt from Star News Network)