A cross-border motorcade of people calling for the U.S.-Mexico border to be closed to illegal immigration gathered in Yuma on Saturday for one of three rallies.
“Take Our Border Back Convoy” held a rally at Britten's Farm in Yuma. Separate rallies were held in San Ysidro, California, south of San Diego, and Quemado, Texas, about 20 miles north of Eagle Pass.
Participants in Yuma said they were angry about the Biden administration's handling of immigration. The convoy was held before U.S. Senate negotiators announced they had reached an agreement on a $118 billion bill that would combine border funding and security assistance for Israel and Ukraine. The bill faces long odds in the House.
The convoy rally was announced as a peaceful gathering, and Yuma law enforcement had no reports of conflicts involving convoy participants near the border.
Carl Richard Kaiser is a member of the Yuma County Tea Party. He sat in a trolley car parked outside Britten's Farm, carrying U.S. and Arizona flags and signs and flags of local, state and national Republican candidates. Kaiser rang a bell as participants in the motorcade drove by.
“This is our final call to make America great again. We need to close our borders,” Kaiser said. “President (Joe) Biden is allowing people into the country. He gives them money and puts them on buses wherever they want to go. We need to take care of our own people first. I think.”
Inside the venue, Jody Kahnkamp of Yuma held up a sign that read, “We want our borders, our freedoms, our country back. God bless America.”
“We are here to rally for our rights, our freedoms, our beliefs,” Kaernkamp said, adding that he believes local officials and law enforcement need to do more.
“That's just ridiculous,” she said. “They've left it alone for a long time and they're doing the bare minimum of effort and that's fine.”
Barry Brummett told KAWC he drove down from Goodyear after hearing about the TOBB rally. He held a placard that read, “America is full! Secure our borders.”
“It's our state, it's our country, it's not for illegal aliens,” Brummett said. “I applaud the Border Patrol, but I feel sorry for our government.”
Participants attended in groups throughout the afternoon, and some participants from the California rally arrived by car late in the evening. The Yuma Police Department and Yuma County Sheriff's Office issued a joint statement last week saying they had been in touch with the convoy's organizers and wanted to assure the public that everyone's safety was their top priority.
Crowd estimates were not provided, but several hundred people attended the Yuma rally. Previous reports from Texas said the convoy was far smaller than the announced tens of thousands of people.
