SECURITY MATTERS

After three-plus years of ignoring the crisis at our borders, Janet Napolitano has just noticed we have a problem. A little over a month ago, I announced my candidacy for Governor and said this:

It’s easy to point the finger of blame at the federal government. But we need less talk and more action at the border. As Governor, I would pursue every legal option available as a sovereign state to defend our southern border against invasion. And while I will work hard with my friends in Arizona’s congressional delegation to secure funding, I will not wait for that funding in order to take action.

I said that because for her entire time in office, Janet Napolitano has done nothing to secure the border. She barely mentioned it in her first three state of the state addresses. Her only response to concerns about the border was to blame Washington … and to propose granting driver’s licenses to those who are here illegally. Meanwhile, an estimated 5 million-plus have crossed illegally from Mexico into Arizona since she took office.
Amazing what a political campaign can do to a politician. Last week, Napolitano said:

In a time when illegal immigration has risen dramatically and where Washington, D.C., has been slow to act, there is an appropriate role for the state to step in.

And we thought John Kerry could flip-flop! Now she realizes the state can do something, but she still has not taken any action. Instead, today we have 200 volunteer Minutemen trying to do a job that is the responsibility of our government.
This lack of response from our Governor is completely unacceptable in a post 9-11 world, and it puts all of us at risk. Nearly two years ago the London Telegraph reported this:

A string of alarming incidents has convinced Bush administration officials that lax immigration rules, designed to cope with the huge numbers of illegal entrants from Mexico, have become a significant loophole in the war on terror. Over the past month, border agents from Arizona and Texas have anonymously reported recent encounters with dozens of Arab men, who have made their way across the 2,000-mile Mexican border. Patrol agents told one Arizona newspaper that 77 males “of Middle Eastern descent” were apprehended in June in two separate incidents.

Janet Napolitano has had plenty of time and plenty of warning about the security threat to our people to have done something. In fact, she has had enough time in office that she could have completely sealed the border. She cannot be trusted to secure our border, no matter what she promises in an election season.