Nonprofits in Yuma provide ‘border aid runs’ as the number of migrants seeking asylum hit an all time high

In the last month, hundreds of National Guard troops have been deployed to border towns in Arizona. The operation, ‘Task Force Badge,’ was ordered by Governor Doug Ducey after a 2000% increase in migrants seeking asylum in Yuma County since 2020.

Video transcript

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- In the last month, hundreds of National Guard troops have been deployed to border towns in Arizona. The operation Task Force Badge was ordered by Governor Doug Ducey after a huge rise in migrants seeking asylum in Yuma County.

- They arrived by the dozens, some dragging the few belongings they could bring with them, others carrying their children, many of them coming all the way from South America.

- More than 700 migrants a day have been entering the country, many seeking asylum.

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- Data from border patrol shows the number of crossings in the Yuma sector is up by more than 2,000% since 2020. In October, agents had over 22,000 encounters with asylum seekers.

DOUGLAS NICHOLLS: This fiscal year alone, we've had over 80 different countries coming through the Yuma area. Our family units are up over 5,000% from last fiscal year. We're now between 800 and 1,000 people a day, sometimes spiking up to 1,500. This last fiscal year, we had 140,000 people coming through the sector.

- Yuma Mayor Nicholls has issued multiple local emergencies to help the situation in the city. Migrant crossings in the area have happened for years, but Mayor Nicholls says it's the remote areas with no infrastructure that are seeing the biggest increase in traffic.

DOUGLAS NICHOLLS: There's 52 gates that were not constructed. So the walls are there, but there's a large gate. And when you say gate, you really kind of want to think of a "Jurassic Park" sized gate. It's-- it's-- they're large, so you can drive vehicles through them without-- without an issue.

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- Economic and political instability in much of Latin America has driven more people to migrate north. Yuma has become a destination where asylum seekers can cross the border easily and turn themselves into border patrol. That's why Fernando Quiroz, the executive director for Arizona and California Humanitarian Coalition, began this organization a year ago, to help these families that remind him of his own.

FERNANDO QUIROZ: An elderly who has come in with their family from Cuba, the journey, uh, the tears that came down her eyes as she talked about how far they have come, coming through not only 1, 2, 3, 4 different countries to get to what they consider the land of hope, the land of opportunity.

- Quiroz and a group of volunteers carry out border aid runs three times a day, providing resources to migrants who have just crossed the border waiting to turn themselves into authorities.

FERNANDO QUIROZ: Uh, there's six different locations. Uh, each location, we-- we try to provide water, a snack, baby formula, baby bottles, uh, blankets. Now, we're starting to provide, like, socks and sandals and a change of clothes.

It's a coordinated effort with border patrol. They are released, uh, tested for COVID, provided a meal, and then they're transported through that nonprofit to other shelters, to an airport, and assist them the best they can so that street releases do not occur.

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- Border officials are preparing for as many as 9,000 apprehensions a day by spring, when the number of people crossing is expected to peak again. When it happens, Mayor Nicholls says his city is not equipped to handle the influx.

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