June 4, 2021

Arizona & Sonora governors, border apprehensions, stalled budget vote

Plus, how Mexico's historic midterm election is spurring an uptick in violence.

In their last official meeting, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich signed a memorandum of understanding to help improve Sonora’s water future and monitor air quality along the border. The pair appeared in Phoenix at an event hosted by the Arizona Mexico Commission in late May. Voters in Arizona will elect a new governor in 2022 and Sonoran voters head to the polls June 6. During their final visit, Ducey and Pavlovich sat down with Lorraine Rivera to discuss the relationship their two states share.


Mexico’s midterm election on June 6 will see voters determine the outcomes of 15 gubernatorial races, 500 congressional seats and more than 20,000 state and local offices. But it’s been a violent election season with nearly 90 candidates murdered across the country. UA School of Government and Public Policy Assistant Professor Javier Osorio offered insight on what’s causing the upheaval.


This week the Department of Homeland Security announced an end to the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocol Program which forced migrants to wait in Mexico while awaiting court hearings in the United States. It remains unclear what ending the program means for the current increase in apprehensions at the southern border. The chief of Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, John Modlin, told Lorraine Rivera that less than 5% of migrants detained by agents claim asylum. The two recently spoke about current challenges facing the agency.


With the end of Arizona’s fiscal year looming at the end of June, state lawmakers adjourned until June 10 without passing a budget. In response, Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed more than 20 bills and said he would not sign anything else until the Legislature sends him a budget. For analysis into what has some lawmakers on the fence, we turned to Arizona Capitol Times reporter Julia Shumway.

Arizona 360
Arizona 360 airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on PBS 6 and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on PBS 6 PLUS. See more from Arizona 360.
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