YUMA, Arizona — Newly formed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wrapped up a two-day tour of Yuma, Arizona, Thursday on how illegal immigration is straining its community services. A public hearing was held at the city council.
Yuma County Sheriff Leon N. Wilmot told a standing crowd that U.S. Border Patrol was concerned His county surged from about 40 people a day to more than 1,000 The day after Joe Biden became president. Wilmot credits changes in immigration policy under the Biden administration, including removing a past requirement that immigrants remain in Mexico until asked if they are allowed to enter the United States.
Wilmot County supplies 90% of the nation’s leafy greens in the winter, and its farmlands are being decimated by “massive amounts of garbage, pharmaceuticals, and biological waste” left behind by people who illegally cross the Colorado River. The emergency management agency is spending $70,000 to lease portable toilets to keep migrants from defecating in the crops, Wilmot said.
Wilmot said prices start at $6,000 per migrant smuggled illegally by a cartel. Cartels are using social media to recruit young people to smuggle humans and drugs into the country because the federal government won’t charge them with crimes because of their age, he said.
A surge in illegal immigrants with medical problems is also straining care at the Yuma Regional Medical Center, its chief executive told the commission. He said the hospital had provided $26 million in free care in the past year.
He said that in Yuma, which has a population of 100,000, 300,000 people have crossed the border in the past year and his hospital is obliged to provide medical care to those in need.
“Every dollar of uncompensated care has a direct impact on our hospital,” says Trenschel. “Immigrant patients receive treatment for free. They have no ability to pay. We can’t charge anyone. We cannot provide completely free care to the residents of our community, so the situation is not fair and they deserve it.”
Serving immigrants is also focused on the Yuma Community Food Bank, CEO Shira Whitehead told the commission during a visit to her facility. Food needs are high among legal residents, many of whom are seasonal farm workers, and food banks lack the resources to feed large numbers of illegal immigrants, she said. .
“Our focus here is on maintaining the legitimate needs that people have in this community,” Whitehead told the commission.
More than a dozen Republicans on the Jordanian Commission attended the local hearings, but Democrats were absent. Top Democratic Commissioner Jerrod Nadler of New York State described the expedition as a “stunt hearing” and said his members did not receive enough travel notices to make plans to attend. said they will visit the border themselves next month and “listen to local communities and government officials.”
“It’s a shame the Democrats weren’t on board today,” said Jordan, a Republican from Champaign County.
“We’re here trying to hear from real people outside of Washington, D.C., so they accused us of a political grandstand,” he continued. “Why don’t Democrats want to hear from local law enforcement? Why don’t Democrats want to talk to hospital administrators? Democrats don’t care Do you have thousands of people in your community? “
His commission said it would work to pass legislation to revive the “stay in Mexico” policy and strengthen other immigration laws. After the hearing, he took a selfie with the audience.
“Everyone on this committee is listening to you,” Rep. Harriet Hegeman of Wyoming told witnesses and the audience. “They are listening and they want to represent you. I want to express your voice “
Sabrina Eaton is in charge of federal government and politics in Washington, DC. cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.read more of her work here.
