26-02-2025
Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to shore up the border - and her reelection prospects
Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday caught an atta boy from the Trump administration with her announcement of a new state border task force to combat the Mexican cartels.
'Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs just signed an executive order to partner local & state law enforcement with the federal government to secure our border and stop transnational gangs,' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media post.
'Under President @realDonaldTrump's leadership, leaders of every political stripe are stepping up to secure the border and make America safe!'
I picture Andy Biggs and Karrin Taylor Robson grinding their molars right down to the gums.
Hobbs is considered one of the nation's most vulnerable governors up for reelection in 2026. If she's going to have a prayer of defeating either Biggs or Taylor Robson, she's got to bolster her border credentials.
She, after all, is the governor who in 2023 disbanded Republican Gov. Doug Ducey's Arizona Border Strike Task Force. True, it wasn't really much of a strike force, and it wasn't actually concentrated on the border.
But ending it in 2023 will be a bad look on the campaign trail in 2026.
She's also the governor who in 2024 vetoed a Republican bill authorizing state and local police to enforce immigration law, only to watch as nearly 63% of the state's voters approved the plan in November.
Yeah, that one's going to leave a mark, too.
So, what's a Democratic border governor to do?
Hobbs isn't about to jump on the MAGA bandwagon and chase down undocumented landscapers or helpICE agents storm the state's churches in search of worshipers to deport.
And she certainly isn't going to slap a bounty on the heads of undocumented immigrants, as state Sen. Jake Hoffman has proposed. I believe her response was, 'No way in hell.'
Her only real hope of looking tough on the border is to double down on the cartels.
Since taking office, she has sent $100 million in border security funding to local law enforcement agencies along the border, and she created a border coordination office 'to ensure local, state and federal governments work together to secure the border.'
In July, she created Task Force SAFE (Stopping Arizona's Fentanyl Epidemic), sending the Arizona National Guard to work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry. She also signed into law a bill boosting prison time for major fentanyl traffickers.
This year, she's expressed support for Trump's plan to deport violent criminals, and she even supported the Laken Riley Act, requiring the detention of any undocumented immigrant accused of burglary, theft and shoplifting.
Hobbs called it 'an important step forward that will help keep our communities safe and secure our border.'
And on Tuesday, she signed an executive order creating Operation Desert Guardian, a joint task force charged with combating transnational criminal organizations along the state's 370-mile border.
Hobbs directed the state departments of Emergency and Military Affairs, Public Safety and Homeland Security to expand border security operations in Arizona's four border counties and to partner with local, county and federal authorities.
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The goal: to shore up the border and dismantle the cartels' supply chains and operating networks.
'I'm proud to launch Operation Desert Guardian to combat the cartels, stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and secure Arizona's border,' Hobbs announced.
It was a far cry from her comments just two years ago, when she disbanded Ducey's Border Strike Force.
'The border is a federal priority, a federal issue and I know there's been frustration that the feds haven't stepped up,' she said at the time. 'But I think we have other priorities in our state that we should be directing our resources to.'
Now Hobbs is all about shoring up the border — and her reelection prospects.
Will it be enough to grab those middle-of-the-road voters — the ones who were frustrated by Joe Biden's border bungle but who don't see all immigrants as 'parasites' and criminals? The ones who don't share MAGA's hunger to clap all undocumented immigrants in irons and ship them off to somewhere, anywhere?
It's way too soon to tell, but Hobbs got a start on Tuesday when no less than Trump's Homeland Security chief cited Hobbs as an example of leaders who are 'stepping up to secure the border and make America safe!'
I picture Biggs and Taylor Robson, their now-toothless gums on full display as their jaws hit the floor.
Reach Roberts at Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz, on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz and on BlueSky at @
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hobbs polishes her image with new cartel task force | Opinion
