Governor Doug Ducey holds border meeting in Yuma
FOX 9's Adam Klepp spoke to the governor one on one after his meeting with local law enforcement
YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - Governor Doug Ducey hosted a border meeting in Yuma with Mayor Doug Nicholls, County Supervisor Jonathan Lines, local law enforcement and non-profit and agriculture leaders.
Ducey remains critical of the Biden Administration's handling of the southern border.
"They're derelict in their duty, absent without leave, awol and anti-wall," Ducey said.
Following Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich's legal opinion, which said Governor Ducey was within his legal right to militarize the National Guard, Governor Ducey said they will continue to serve in a support role to law enforcement and be in Yuma as he sees fit.
"We're going to continue to send badges to the border, we continue to use the National Guard to support law enforcement," Ducey said.
While the Department of Homeland Security has not yet released apprehension numbers for January, from recent trips to the border wall crossing activity appears to have slowed in recent weeks.
Mayor Doug Nicholls confirmed there has been a decrease in crossings, but the numbers are all relative.
"Our normal slow is about 600 people per day. That's not anywhere near normal," Nicholls said.
Nicholls added Yuma remains in a local emergency due to the border activity, and for now he sees no reason to remove that proclamation.
The local emergency was declared in December when Border Patrol reported over 1,000 illegal crossings a day over consecutive days.
In January, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas became the first high-profile figure from the Biden Administration to visit Yuma since the President took office.
Governor Ducey said he was shut out by the secretary.
"Mayorkas didn't call me when he was here, he basically hid from me," Ducey said.
Mayor Nicholls says he expects to have another meeting with Secretary Mayorkas soon.
"I will be following up with the Secretary shortly and will be upfront on whether I think he's following up on the things we talked about or not," Nicholls said.
