Arizona's Democratic governor starts state partnership with the Trump administration on immigration

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order Tuesday directing state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with Customs and Border Protection to prevent border crimes such as drug and human trafficking, making Hobbs one of the first (if not the first) Democratic governors to partner with the Trump administration on immigration.

Immigration was top of mind for Arizona voters during the most recent presidential election, with about one-fifth of voters saying it was their top issue, according to the NBC News exit poll. Those voters broke near-unanimously for President Donald Trump.

Many Democratic governors, including JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York, have bucked the Trump administration’s early efforts to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history — a top campaign promise of Trump’s.

But Hobbs is in a unique situation: While other border states lean either solidly Republican or Democratic, Arizona is the only border state considered to be a presidential battleground. 

Trump won it by 187,382 votes (or 5.5 percentage points), flipping it after Joe Biden’s 2020 win. Arizona voters last year also approved Proposition 314, which made it a state crime for noncitizens to enter the state directly from the southern border at any points besides official ports of entry.

The executive order — Operation Desert Guardian — 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. 

“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.”

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The Arizona Legislature is considering another immigration measure, the Arizona ICE Act, which would require 10% of all local and state law enforcement to be deputized by ICE. The bill made it out of a state Senate committee last week. However, Hobbs is not expected to sign it into law if it passes.

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Hobbs, who was elected by a narrow margin in 2022 over Republican Kari Lake, is likely to face another close election in 2026.

In a statement, Democratic state Attorney General Kris Mayes supported Hobbs' new order: "I welcome the additional support announced by Governor Hobbs that will bolster my office’s ongoing efforts to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations. Fighting the drug cartels requires an all-hands-on-deck approach — and we will continue working with our partners to take down these dangerous networks and protect Arizonans."

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, also a Democrat, declined to comment.