TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Arizona’s new governor made an extensive tour of Southern Arizona Tuesday, trying to learn more about what our area needs.
Governor Hobbs spent a few quiet moments at the January 8th Memorial. It remembers the mass shooting 12 years ago that killed six people and wounded 13, including then Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Earlier, Governor Hobbs met with the Border County Coalition. County Supervisors from Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties. They asked about controlling crime on the border while encouraging the legal cross border traffic that boosts Arizona’s economy.
They talked with the Governor about border crime, and the legal cross border trade that means so much to Arizona’s economy.
Cochise County Supervisor Ann English says, “She was very interested. She didn’t seem eager to go and that’s always a good sign when she’s asking questions to find out more about us and so this was a first step for her to get to know us better.”
Coalition member and Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson wants to know what counties can do with programs to help asylum seekers when millions of dollars in Federal money stops.
“The money that we have at this point in time, pretty much evaporates in May.”
KGUN 9 Reporter Craig Smith asked: “What are you gonna do?”
Bronson: “That was what we asked her, how are you going to help us Governor? Because we're going to need help if we are going to keep dealing with asylum seekers, and they can't, Pima County doesn't have that kind of money in the budget to sustain it.”
And Bronson says she will not support applying local tax dollars to shelters for asylum seekers.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce Bracker says it seems like the Governor will work to support cross border commerce
“She feels that it's really important to understand trade with Mexico drives Arizona economy, something that a lot of people even in Pima County and especially in Maricopa County, don't really appreciate how important the border is to the economy of the state of Arizona. And you have 110 manufacturing plants in Sonora. And those offices and those businesses are all based in Maricopa and Pima County. They wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Sonora.”
But Bracker says Governor Hobbs did not make specific promises, simply listened to Southern Arizona concerns.
The Governor’s visit also included stops at the offices of El Rio Health Clinics, Southern Arizona’s DPS headquarters, Customs and Border Protection and the Casa Alitas shelter for cross-border asylum seekers. Her visit ended in Nogales with a tour of the Mariposa Port of Entry that includes Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.