Arizona Attorney General calls border crisis an “invasion”
FOX 9's Adam Klepp saw minimal illegal crossing activity at Yuma Sector border wall hotspots
YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - Mark Brnovich, Arizona's Attorney General, releasing a legal opinion, saying the recent border crisis legally qualifies as a quote “invasion”.
Brnovich says current actions of the federal government are destroying operational control at the border, and that cartels trafficking drugs and humans, fits the constitutional definition of an "invasion".
The opinion gives legal room for Governor Doug Ducey to authorize what Brnovich calls “defensive use of force” with the Arizona National Guard.
During his border visit at the Morelos Dam last December, Ducey said he was taking action.
"That’s why the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs is deploying more assets to the border,” Ducey said.
But currently, the National Guard is only serving in a support role to local law enforcement. A statement from Ducey's office says "for attorney general Brnovich to imply the guard is not on our border does them a serious disservice."
Yet the day after the legal opinion was released, activity at the wall in the Yuma sector was minimal.
In the morning, Border Patrol apprehended a group of about a dozen migrants, beginning the asylum-seeking process like the thousands before them.
After their apprehension, the popular spots for illegal crossings by County 14th Street and the Morelos Dam gaps, were left empty.
In an interview with News 11 over the weekend, local congressman Raul Grijalva said using words like “invasion” to describe the current border situation only harms our community.
"The rhetoric around build a wall, shut it down, it’s an invasion. What does that do to the people that live in the border region? It hurts them. It hurts their economics, and it hurts their satisfaction and their quality of life,” Grijalva said.
Yuma still remains under a local emergency declared by Mayor Doug Nicholls in December due to the activity at the border.
