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Has been updated: December 21, 2022 at 7:07 PM
(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — As immigrants began to be released in Yuma this week, local officials are bracing for major complications while Title 42’s future remains in flux.
Mayor Doug Nichols said Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector is expected to release 50 migrants into the city’s streets on Tuesday, with releases likely to occur on a daily basis. The Gaydos and Chad Show on KTAR News 92.3 FM.
Nicholls was informed at a meeting earlier this month that releasing migrants into the streets of Yuma would be Border Patrol’s last option, according to a press release. Shortly after the meeting, the mayor was told by headquarters that he needed to be released to the streets of Yuma.
“They no longer have to wait for the system to run out of capacity,” says Nicholls. “This is a change in attitude towards managing the Border Patrol process that releases immigrants on their own perceptions after processing.”
About 1,000 migrants now cross the Yuma border, and local nonprofits help 350 to 500 people each day find transportation from the Yuma area, Nicholls said. The rest of the migrants typically fly or bus to other Department of Health facilities in San Diego and Tucson.
The mayor said the end of Title 42, a public health rule that prevents immigrants from seeking asylum on the grounds of preventing COVID-19, could overwhelm the border department’s capacity.
The Biden administration on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to end the asylum restrictions, but asked the court to delay them at least until after Christmas.
The administration made the petition a day after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order to maintain pandemic-era immigration restrictions. The restrictions were due to expire on Wednesday before Roberts issued that order.
“Basically, this is essentially just opening the front door and telling them they’re free to leave,” Nichols said.
“What this could end up being is that people roaming the streets looking for resources, frankly, don’t know how to find transportation out of town.”
The mayor said the surge at the border was different from a few years ago, as the issue appeared to have switched from a subsistence issue to an economic one.
“We have more and more wealthy people coming in. Not necessarily rich people, but what we were dealing with in 2019 … the last surge was the amount of groceries with their livelihoods. There were people really walking across the border with bags,” he said.
“Now that we have just left the airport, we see people walking across the border with their luggage as if they had just left the airport. They almost all have mobile phones. ”
After a recent meeting with Arizona Gov. Hobbes, Mr. Nichols said he expressed humanitarian concern for those who crossed the border and those living in border areas.
Despite those concerns, Hobbs added that he wants to remove the double-tiered shipping containers that line part of the border.
“That was her opinion, and that led to my comment on the invitation,” Nichols said.
According to Nichols, Hobbes said he wanted to visit the border “sooner or later.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
