Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is again asking the federal government to reimburse Arizona for border security spending.
The governor is now asking for $902 million. That’s up from $760 million she requested last July.
Border security is a function of the federal government, but Hobbs and eight Arizona sheriffs say the state has paid heavily to combat drug trafficking, human smuggling and other border-related crimes.
Hobbs wants the Department of Homeland Security to pay Arizona back for the past five years’ worth of those efforts.
"Arizona has done the federal government’s job for far too long, and it is time for Washington to pay its bill," she said in a statement.
About $192 million of Hobbs’ request is for local law enforcement, and the other $710 million is to support other operations, including Task Force SAFE — a collaboration between the Arizona National Guard and the federal government.
Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey also urged the Biden administration to reimburse Arizona for the cost of deploying the National Guard to the border.
Neither the Trump nor Biden administrations caved to the past requests.
In the One Big Beautiful Bill, which passed last July, the Trump administration did pledge to pay $13.5 billion to border states as border security reimbursement. Arizona requested a share of that money, but the Trump administration hasn’t given a timeline for parsing it out or paid any of the border states yet.
“During the recent border crisis, Arizona faced unprecedented public safety and national security challenges that placed significant strain on local communities, law enforcement agencies, and state resources,” Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said in a statement. “Throughout that time, Arizona’s leadership, including the Governor’s Office, stood united in protecting the citizens of this state and supporting the men and women on the front lines.
Hobbs spokesperson Christian Slater said the sheriffs of Coconino, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave, Navajo, Yavapai and Yuma counties are also backing this request.
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