Governor Katie Hobbs Signs Executive Order to Secure the Border with Operation Desert Guardian

News Release

February 25, 2025

Expands on Task Force SAFE, Which has Stopped 19 Million Fentanyl Pills at Ports of Entry

Phoenix, AZ – Governor Katie Hobbs signed Executive Order 2025-01 directing the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to create a joint task force, Operation Desert Guardian, to expand border security operations in Arizona’s four border counties.

Operation Desert Guardian will seek to partner with local law enforcement, sheriffs, and the federal government to disrupt Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) operations within Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties.

“I’m proud to launch Operation Desert Guardian to combat the cartels, stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and secure Arizona’s border,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “My administration has been in contact with the federal government and local sheriffs about the Operation, its critical objectives, and our shared commitment to keeping criminals and drugs out of Arizona’s communities. I have worked productively with the federal government on Task Force SAFE and partnered with local law enforcement to deliver critical border security support, and I look forward to continued partnership on our shared border security priorities. With Operation Desert Guardian, I’m confident we can take an important next step in our ongoing work to secure the border.”

Objectives will include: identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities along our 370-mile southern border, and combating border-related crimes perpetrated by TCOs by dismantling their supply chains and operating networks. Operation Desert Guardian will be funded by leveraging a portion of the $28 million balance in the State’s Border Security Fund.

The Operation will build on the efforts of Task Force SAFE, a joint operation between the Arizona National Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to interdict drugs at Arizona’s ports of entry. So far, Task Force SAFE has stopped over 19 million fentanyl pills, 6,598 pounds of other illicit drugs, and 237 weapons from crossing the border.

Read Executive Order 2025-01: Establishing Operation Desert Guardian here.

From day one of her administration, Governor Katie Hobbs has followed through on her commitment to work with anybody to secure the border and call politicians out when they get it wrong. The Governor has:
  • Deployed over $100 million in border security funding to local law enforcement agencies
  • Ordered the National Guard to the border and created Task Force SAFE, which has stopped over 19 million fentanyl pills, 6,598 pounds of other illicit drugs, and 237 weapons from crossing the border
  • Created a Border Coordination Office within the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to ensure local, state and federal governments work together to secure the border
  • Stood up to the Biden administration when they closed down the Lukeville Port of Entry
  • Signed the bipartisan Ashley Dunn Act to establish minimum sentences for high volume fentanyl traffickers
  • Requested over $500 million from the Biden administration to reimburse the state for border security costs incurred
  • Pledged to not use state resources to indiscriminately round people up, attack Dreamers, or enforce immigration laws in churches, schools or hospitals, with exceptions for violent offenders.
###