Somerton, Arizona (border report) — Fernando Quiros of the Arizona-California Humanitarian Coalition and his band of volunteers have noticed fewer migrants entering the United States near Yuma, Arizona, in recent weeks.

This is an area where 300-500 asylum seekers traditionally cross the border every night.

It’s also where former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, without federal approval, installed hundreds of shipping containers in August to block gaps along the border wall to prevent immigrant flows.

In Ducey’s absence, his successor agreed to remove the container. Everything has been removed from this area of ​​southwest Arizona.

“The container was pointless and did nothing,” Kiros said. “It cost Arizona taxpayers nearly $170 million.”

Quiroz mentioned the total cost of all containers installed across the Arizona-Mexico border, some of which are still being removed.

“It was a complete waste of money,” he said.

Ironically, he noted, the number of immigrants is actually down now that the containers are gone.

US Customs and Border Protection Data shows Novemberaccording to the latest available statistics, 27,751 immigrants were arrested in the Yuma area, slightly higher than the number recorded in October.

The city of Yuma issued a state of emergency last month after an unprecedented number of immigrants entered the region. In addition, Yuma County declared a countywide emergency to draw attention to and prepare for the immigrant situation, while the city of San Luis also declared a humanitarian and We have issued an emergency declaration due to the health crisis.

In the days leading up to December 21, when Title 42 expires, the city of Yuma said more than 1,000 migrants cross the border every day in the area. Many of these migrants are being bussed to San Diego and Tucson by the Department of Homeland Security or being flown to other of his DHS facilities, the city said.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court will leave Title 42, a public health order allowing border agents to deport immigrants to prevent the cross-border spread of COVID-19, perhaps until June.

Mr Quiroz told the Border Report that the number of people seeking attention at the border has definitely decreased.

“Numbers have dropped considerably. It’s a holiday, important dignitaries, senators are coming to the area, and Mexico is currently holding back individuals, so there are no numbers to watch,” Quiroz said. “Fortunately, the population has declined over the past five to six days, which has given the shelter more supplies to prepare for the next surge.”

Quiroz believes more migrants will come, with or without containers, especially if they don’t open the ports of entry for asylum seekers.

“To do things properly and humanely, I will allow them to pass through the port of entry. I am asking for it.” “

Recently, President Biden announced that asylum seekers will have access to eight entry points along the southern border, including PedWest, a pedestrian crossing between San Diego and Tijuana.

But no timeline is provided.