Yuma mayor calls on Biden to stop moving resources from border community

YUMA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — As migrant crossings are spiking across the southern border, Yuma is seeing a very different picture. The latest numbers from August show crossings are only up by about 200 people from the month prior, some of the lowest numbers Yuma has seen all year.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol has shifted part of its focus to the Tucson sector, where they’re seeing more than 1,000 people cross each day.

As the Yuma region sees a decrease in migrant crossings, Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said resources are being stripped away from the Yuma community. A community he said is already limited. “I have not seen anything in the last two years that really changes the flow or the posture of DHS to mitigate the flow before it comes to the United States,” he said.

In a letter to President Joe Biden and Department Of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Mayor Nicholls asked that the San Luis Port of Entry policy be revoked. Nearly 2 million cars crossed the San Luis port of entry in the first six months of this year. “They’re removing assets, in other words personnel, from the port of entry to support the border patrol,” said Nicholls.

The mayor said this could affect the region economically. “It negatively impacts trade people’s quality of life, and we’re just starting agriculture season. As they reduce the effectiveness of the ports, it actually hurts the people coming to work at three or four in the morning,” he said. “Instead of reducing the flow, they’re just moving people around. So the concern is this. They start moving people here from Tucson, which they already started, next week is probably Texas and the week after that may be San Diego.”

He said with the lack of resources, it’s becoming an increasing concern. “Then it gets to the point where Yuma doesn’t have any capacity and they can end up releasing on the streets as they’re doing in other parts of the country,” Nicholls said.

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