Engel’s Campaign Ad: Border Crisis Denial and Police Defunding at the Forefront

By Staff Reporter |

Incumbent Congressman Juan Ciscomani has released a provocative advertisement targeting his Democratic challenger, Kirsten Engel. The ad includes clips of Engel contesting the existence of an immigration crisis and advocating for defunding police forces.

The advertisement serves as a montage of Engel’s past statements, illustrating her positions from her tenure as a state lawmaker to her initial congressional campaign in 2022.

“Meet Kirsten Engel… in her very own words. No border crisis. Defund the police. Engel is clearly out of touch with the concerns of everyday Arizonans,” tweeted Ciscomani.

Engel, a former state lawmaker and law professor at the University of Arizona, previously denied the significance of Arizona’s immigration crisis. She argues against physical barriers such as walls, stating that the focus should be on providing assistance to those at the border rather than on detention measures.

“We do not need help at our border. We need to secure the border. Drug trafficking and human smuggling require attention, but barriers are not the answer,” Engel stated. She emphasizes the need for an orderly asylum process, claiming it is essential for national and international law.

In her push for immigration reform, Engel supports ideas such as ending Title 42, establishing legal pathways for citizenship, and focusing on asylum seekers at legal entry points.

“Thank you so much to Sheriff Dannels and his team for the tour and sharing the daily challenges at our southern border. Our local law enforcement risk their lives every day – Congress needs to stop playing politics, reject inaction, and come together to address this crisis,” Engel expressed in a recent tweet.

Engel’s stance has led her to critique Ciscomani for not backing a proposed bill that allocated $20 billion for border security within a larger $118 billion budget, heavily focused on foreign aid, including $60 billion for Ukraine.

Since the heightened scrutiny of policing post-George Floyd’s death, Engel has refrained from deeply engaging in discussions surrounding police funding. Previously, she endorsed calls for reallocating funds from police budgets during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, suggesting a decreased police presence for certain emergency calls.

“Not every 911 call requires a police officer to show up at your door,” Engel commented, advocating instead for social workers to handle some emergencies.

During the tumultuous period of the summer 2020 protests, Engel also supported allegations made by Tucson Councilwoman Lane Santa Cruz, asserting that local police were responsible for the death of a man in custody, which led to resignations among those officers concerned for their safety.

The man, Carlos Ingram-Lopez, was reported to have died from cardiac arrest due to drugs in his system and a preexisting medical condition.