Arizona lawmakers urge Ducey to use “war power” at border

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is being called on by a group of Republican state lawmakers and two former Trump administration officials to use war powers to repel what they call an “invasion” of migrants at the southern border.

The officials say Ducey can use a novel interpretation of the U.S. Constitution to have the National Guard or state police forcibly send migrants to Mexico without regard to immigration laws and law enforcement procedures.

While Ducey has already aggressively challenged President Joe Biden’s border policies, along with sending National Guard members and Department of Public Safety Officers to assist local law enforcement and the Border Patrol multiple times, lawmakers said extraordinary steps are required because of the number of people and drugs crossing the border illegally.

The U.S. Border patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border from September 2020 to September 2021, which is more than quadruple the number in the prior fiscal year and the highest annual total on record.