The city of Yuma is now in a state of emergency related to the influx of migrants entering the city and is calling for the federal government to immediately dispatch authorities to assist.
Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said that the current federal personnel in the Uma area are failing to help control the migrant issue and it is causing a crisis to the Yuma community. Nicholls said that over 6,000 migrants have attempted to travel through the Yuma area. These migrants are not being provided with proper rations and are not being vetted for prior criminal backgrounds.
The surge of migrants has led to the overcapacity of border patrol stations. Throughout the region, the stations are currently holding over 800% of the capacity that is legally mandated. This is creating rapid spread of diseases such as COVID-19 and other common illnesses.
When migrants are released from these detention stations, they are immediately migrating to cities like Yuma. Yuma does not have the infrastructure or resources to support this migration. This is leading to a sharp increase in crime so that migrants can feed themselves.