EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) became the first Democrat to back a new border-related bill that would help expand hiring for U.S. Customs and Border Protection applicants.
The Arizona Democrat running for Arizona’s Senate seat, left vacant by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), is supporting the Anti-Border Corruption Improvement Act, which would remove the polygraph requirement for those applying for positions at CBP who have previous law enforcement experience or military security clearances.
There have been widespread recruitment problems, and experts believe by eliminating this requirement, an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents could be hired.
“When I meet with CBP and border community leaders, one of the first things they mention to me is the shortage of CBP officers,” Gallego said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “Securing our border should be a bipartisan issue, which is why I’m proud to be the first to cross the aisle and support this commonsense legislation to expedite CBP hiring.”
“Law enforcement officers and veterans who have already served our country once shouldn’t face unnecessary hurdles to serving again,” Gallego added.
The legislation was introduced in January of last year and has since been referred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement in the House.
Republicans, including Gallego’s GOP opponent, Kari Lake, blame Gallego and his Democratic colleagues for the current state of the border. Lake recently released a new ad showing footage of Gallego and Vice President Kamala Harris with the words “Ruben Gallego and Kamala Harris: Bad for the border. Bad for Arizona. Bad for America.” The ad also slams Gallego for his voting record, citing a FiveThirtyEight tally showing he voted with President Joe Biden and Harris 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, between 2021 and 2022.
This as the number of migrants arrested after attempting to enter the United States from Mexico has dropped to levels not seen since the Trump administration. The number of migrants apprehended each day for illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico has averaged between 1,670 and 2,500 arrests recently, according to Border Patrol officials with access to federal government data.
Gallego continues to advocate more resources from the federal government for border towns. He helped secure over $2 million in emergency funding from the Department of Homeland Security to support Arizona’s border communities last year. The congressman also introduced a bill to combat fentanyl money laundering that was signed into law in April. He also introduced the Direct Hire Act and the Screening Efficiency Act, both aimed at speeding up migrant processing and providing relief to Arizona’s border towns.
While Gallego was a critic of Title 42, a pandemic-era authority that allowed authorities to turn away migrants who came to the U.S.-Mexico border, he pushed back on the Biden administration’s effort to end the policy before having a plan in place to handle the surge of migrants at the border.
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The Arizona Senate race is rated “Lean Democratic” by nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report, alongside races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
