Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) is running against Republican Kari Lake for U.S. Senate in Arizona on a record of opposing border security measures.
On his campaign website, Gallego declares, “our border communities are not the war zones that news stations often portray them as … Ruben has been on the forefront of sensible, comprehensive immigration reform in Congress … [and has] spoken out against extremist right-wing policies.”
Gallego lists 13 issues on his website, including LGBTQ+ and abortion, but nothing specifically about crime.
These statements are in line with his previous statements. In 2019, he posted on X, “There is no ‘national emergency’ coming from the border.”
There is no "national emergency" coming from the border. The only national emergency is to our Constitution coming from the White House. https://t.co/9l8vf4PnoR
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) January 5, 2019
Gallego called a border wall “stupid” and “useless” in a 2018 post on X. Another post from 2018 said securing the border is a “misguided scheme.” He posted in 2019 that sending more troops to the border was a “misuse of funds and manpower.”
He voted against a border security bill in May 2023. He said in a press release, “H.R. 2 doubles down on Trump-era policies that are not only cruel, but that we know don’t work. It would tear families apart, waste taxpayer money, and make our already broken system even more ineffective. At the same time, it would cripple our ports of entry…” One of his complaints was that it would “[c]ost taxpayers $6.1 billion, including through construction of 900 miles of ineffective and impractical border wall.”
One position Gallego reversed himself on is allowing illegal immigrants to vote. In February 2023, he voted against House Joint Resolution 24, which sought to prevent illegal immigrants from voting in local elections in Washington, D.C. When the vote came up again last May, he voted for the measure.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office issued a study several years ago which revealed that although illegal immigrants made up 9 percent of the population in the county at the time, they committed 21.8 percent of all felonies. The office estimated that each violent crime costs citizens about $20,000.
Violent crime in Arizona has increased in Arizona over the past five years, while its border has been flooded with illegal immigrants allowed in under the Biden administration. According to statistics from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, homicides increased from 327 to 436 between 2019 and 2023, about a one-third increase. Aggravated assaults increased during that period from 18,390 to 21,083.
Arizona’s violent crime rate has outpaced the rest of the U.S. average for years. In 2020, there were 484.8 violent crimes per 100,000 people, the 9th highest rate among the 50 states, compared to 398.5 per 100,000 people on average nationwide. Additionally, between 2022 and 2023, Arizona’s violent crime rate increased by 6.5 percent, higher than the national rate rise.
In 2022, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) reported its highest violent crime rate in 23 years, 822.24 per 100,000 people. The homicide rate reached 13.56 per 100,000 people, the highest since 2008. Murders increased by 29 percent between 2017 and 2022, the highest in 16 years. Rapes increased by 10 percent during that time span. PPD announced this year that juvenile crimes have increased by 76 percent.
Tucson has also seen an increase in violent crime. The city saw a record level of homicides in 2022, 93. This was almost a 200 percent increase from 2019 with 49. The homicides disproportionately affect minorities. In 2022, 26 percent of the victims were black, 53 percent were Latino, and 2 percent were Native American.
Gallego and Lake will participate in their first debate on October 9. The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (ACCEC) is refusing to allow Arizona Green Party (AZGP) candidate Eduardo Quintana participate, even though Libertarian Party candidate Marc Victor was allowed to participate in the 2022 U.S. Senate debate with Republican Blake Masters and Democrat Mark Kelly.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ruben Gallego” by Ruben Gallego.
