Arizona Governor’s News Conference Interrupted By Immigrants Seeking Asylum

Photo Credit: Brahm Resnik / Twitter

The Center Square [By Cole Lauterbach] –

Amid an announcement that Arizona is beefing up border security because of a surge in immigrants, Gov. Doug Ducey’s news conference along the U.S. border wall had some surprise visitors.

Ducey, local law enforcement and county and municipal officials were gathered in front of a gap in the U.S. southern border wall near Yuma to announce additional National Guard resources being devoted to the southern border.

“It’s clear the Biden administration has created a December Disaster at our border,” Ducey said at Tuesday’s news conference. “As a result of piecemeal policy and a lack of federal involvement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been inundated. We simply cannot stand by and watch this catastrophe unfold.”

As Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls approached the podium, eight immigrants could be seen crossing the waterway onto American soil, sitting down behind the officials and surrendering to Border Patrol. 

“I’ve been to countless press conferences as a reporter, a congressional staffer and as Governor Ducey’s communications director, but I’ve never witnessed anything this surreal,” Ducey spokesman CJ Karamargin said. “Migrants simply strolling into our country waiting – hoping – to surrender themselves to the Border Patrol as public officials were speaking.”

Upon seeing the spectacle unfolding behind the officials, some questioned whether the situation had been staged. Karamargin assured they had “absolutely no idea” that the crossing would happen.

The spectacle occurred the same day the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus as head of Customs and Border Protection. Magnus was confirmed on a 50-47 vote along mostly partisan lines.

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Ducey issued a Declaration of Emergency in April, deploying the Guard to the southern border to support local law enforcement and federal agents amid the surge of migrants approaching the border from dozens of countries worldwide.

The flow of migrants seeking entry into the U.S. has increased in recent weeks, with some saying they were seeking to cross the border before President Joe Biden reinstated a Trump-era rule that turned asylum-seekers back to Mexico while awaiting an immigration trial.

About the Author: Cole Lauterbach is a regional editor for The Center Square covering Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington. For more than a decade, Cole has produced award-winning content on both radio and television. Follow Cole on Twitter @colemanedwards.