Arizona's Democratic Governor, Katie Hobbs, has signed an executive order assembling a new task force which will seek to combat drug smuggling in the state's border counties. Operation Desert Guardian, as it will be known, will direct state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with the Trump administration in their efforts.
More specifically, the operation directs the state Department of Emergency and Military affairs, the state Department of Public Safety and the state Department of Homeland Security to expand border security operations by partnering with local law enforcement, sheriffs and CBP in Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise, the four Arizona counties along the Mexican border, NBC News reports.
"I'm proud to launch Operation Desert Guardian to combat the cartels, stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and secure Arizona's border," Hobbs said in a statement. "My administration has been in contact with the federal government and local sheriffs about the Operation, its critical objectives, and our shared commitment to keeping criminals and drugs out of Arizona's communities."
"I have worked productively with the federal government on Task Force SAFE and partnered with local law enforcement to deliver critical border security support, and I look forward to continued partnership on our shared border security priorities. With Operation Desert Guardian, I'm confident we can take an important next step in our ongoing work to secure the border," she added.
The Democratic Gov. also said the task force will seek to identify and mitigate "security vulnerabilities" along Arizona's 370-mile southern border, and move to dismantle the supply chains and operating networks used by drug smugglers.
Hobb's order, however, does not detail any specific actions other than naming the "joint task force" and declaring that it shall "ensure a coordinated, collaborative strategy" with state agencies and partners. The task force is supposed to "report on metrics to measure the success of interdiction, enforcement, and education operations" by the end of August.
The new directive makes Arizona one of the first Democratic-led states to partner with the Trump administration on immigration-related matters.
The first-term governor had previously hinted at being open to working with the Trump administration as long as initiatives don't harm communities, a move that could benefit her given that Arizona is considered a presidential battleground state and Trump won it in the November elections.
Back in November Hobbs traveled to the Arizona-Mexico border to highlight her state's National Guard work helping crack down on smuggling of fentanyl into the U.S. through Nogales, Arizona. More than half of all border seizures of the drug are made in Nogales.
"Border security was a core issue of the Trump campaign," she told reporters on that visit. "I look forward to having conversations with the incoming president about Arizona's needs, including border security and the work we've done here to build these partnerships that are actually producing results and how we can continue those partnerships under his administration."
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