*A panel discussion open to the media was attended by Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls, Somerton Mayor Gerardo Anaya, San Luis Vice Mayor Luis Cabrera, Cocopah Tribal Chief Sherry Cordova, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot, County Supervisor Jonathan Lines, with former Senator Amanda Aguirre.
*The Senate delegation includes John Cornyn, Republican of Texas; Mark Kelly, Democrat from Arizona; Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina; Chris Murphy, Democrat from Connecticut; James Lankford, Republican from Oklahoma and Chris Coons, Democrat from Delaware.
The bipartisan delegation of Senators that visited the crossing areas for undocumented immigrants, processing centers, and humanitarian assistance acknowledged that the Federal Government has failed to secure the border.
Led by Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Chair of the Border Affairs Subcommittee, officials were in El Paso, Texas, on Monday and in Yuma, Arizona on Tuesday.
Sinema was blunt when beginning the discussion table with Yuma County authorities: “for years the Federal Government has failed to secure the border and the border communities have paid the price, we cannot leave that burden on them.”
It was possible to verify in the meeting held at the Regional Border Health Center, by its current President and former Senator Amanda Aguirre, that resources are allocated to the migratory crisis, since medical assistance, food, lodging and transportation have been provided there for two years daily with 9 buses.
Migrants processed by Border Patrol are taken to the Phoenix airport, to go to states where they meet with those who will take care of them while they receive their asylum status.
Other resources that are divided between doing normal and extraordinary tasks that have increased significantly are those of the Border Patrol, as quoted by the Senator for Texas, John Cornyn, since in that entity, “60% of the agents are at the border and the 40% are processing migrants” and in Yuma it is a similar scenario.
Other risks of undocumented entry is the potential economic loss, since in Arizona 77% of the economic income comes from agriculture, said the Mayor of Yuma.
Sinema has co-led the delegation for two years, and these visits are to learn about the challenges facing the borders in the face of the migration crisis.
The delegation promised to present a plan for an orderly crossing, to protect the economy and avoid draining resources.
9 Buses are sponsored by the Regional Border Health Center to transport assisted migrants.
30 employees of that nonprofit agency volunteer to staff the Somerton assistance center.