Janet Napolitano has been Governor of Arizona for nearly four years. In that time more than 5 million people have crossed illegally from Mexico into Arizona. As the crisis has intensified, as our state has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to deal with the consequences of this failure to secure our border, Janet Napolitano has repeatedly said the same thing — it’s not my problem. She has pointed the finger of blame at Washington and waited for the federal government to do something.
Now they have done something, and she is declaring victory. This is from Friday’s news story about the deployment of a few members of the National Guard:
In Arizona, it is expected that it will cost $6 million for the first three to six months that the initial Guard soldiers are on duty. The troops won’t actively patrol the border but will serve in a support role. They will assist with intelligence analysis, logistics, road and fence building, vehicle inspections at ports of entry and other jobs, essentially freeing Border Patrol agents from desk duties.
“In my view, this support role is a very appropriate role for the Guard in protecting Arizona’s security,” said Napolitano ….”
Put aside for the moment that three years ago Janet Napolitano said the National Guard was not trained to play any role on the border, and opposed as “extreme” any efforts to do so. That’s quite a flip-flop.
But more importantly, consider this: With a budget surplus well over a billion dollars, Janet Napolitano is excited that, after four years, she saved the state all of $6 million over the next six months. And what do we get from this tiny federal investment? We get a few members of the National Guard sitting at desks somewhere near the border. Even now, the Guard will not be involved in deterring illegal crossings into Arizona.
If the threat to our security was not so severe, this would be funny. But instead, it’s frightening. More frightening, however, is that Janet Napolitano still does not get it. She thinks this response is sufficient.
No more evidence is needed. If Arizonans want our border secured, they must vote Janet Napolitano out of office in November.