Migrants gather around a bus in El Paso, Tex || Getty Images
By Stacey Barchenger | Arizona Republic
Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday defended her decision to continue Arizona’s controversial program of transporting asylum seekers from the southern border across state lines, and the state may soon cover the cost of individual plane tickets for those migrants.
While Hobbs criticized the program under her Republican predecessor, she now looks to expand it by providing more travel options for migrants, citing humanitarian concerns and cost efficiency as top reasons for doing so.
“We just wanted to make sure that we were addressing this issue and, as I talked about many times in the campaign, in a way that was the best use of taxpayer resources and something that wasn’t a political stunt,” Hobbs said in an exclusive interview with The Arizona Republic on Tuesday.
“We wanted to make sure that we were getting these folks transported in a way that was efficient and humane, and actually provided relief to the communities on the border that have the influx of these asylum seekers and don’t have the resources to help them.”
