Yuma mayor ends migrant emergency
Move largely symbolic after national attention
TUCSON — Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls withdrew on Thursday an emergency declaration he issued in April after overwhelmed border officials in southwestern Arizona released thousands of mostly Central American migrant families directly into the border community.
The end of the declaration is largely symbolic. The situation in Yuma had already improved considerably in the past six months. Additionally, the declaration had attracted national attention, but did little to effect change on the ground.
The arrival of families began to decrease significantly after June, largely attributed to policies from the U.S. and Mexican administrations to curb the number of migrants reaching their shared border.
The latest government figures from November showed that border agents stationed in the Yuma Sector apprehended 773 migrants total that month, compared to the 13,924 people that agents processed during the peak of arrivals in May.
Nicholls signed a withdrawal to the emergency declaration on Thursday during a meeting in Washington with the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli.
Declaration brought national attention to Yuma
The Republican mayor told The Arizona Republic the emergency declaration had fulfilled its intended purpose.
In practice, it allowed the city to adjust building codes to be able to house large numbers of families taken in by nonprofits in the city. But symbolically, it attracted national attention as Yuma became the first border community nationwide to declare an emergency over the direct release of migrants at the border.
"In the greater scheme of things, being able to get to the attention to bring people to see what the issues are here in Yuma," Nicholls said, referencing visits to Yuma by top administration officials to assess the situation.
"Here, we had 5,200 people come through our community in three short months. And that might not sound like a lot. But the size of our community is 100,000 people," he added.
The declaration led Gov. Doug Ducey's office and the Congressional delegation to call for additional resources for Yuma. Nicholls also met with President Donald Trump and even testified before Congress about the situation.
In June, border officials opened a "soft-sided facility," which was a collection of tents, to more than double holding capacity in the Yuma Sector. Officials also surged border staff temporarily and deployed the military to assist overworked agents.
Congress also passed an aid bill in July that allocated $30 million to be used to reimburse local governments and community and church groups for costs they incurred to take in migrants.
Political response to surge of migrants
Border Patrol began releasing families directly into Yuma in April, citing the lack of space to hold the record number of migrants they had encountered. Normally, immigration officials would take custody of the migrants and transport them to Phoenix or Tucson.
But as the direct releases in Yuma began, a collection of nonprofits led by the Salvation Army came together and opened up an emergency shelter at a former big box store that frequently surpassed its 200-person capacity.
The dramatic spike in the arrival of migrant families happened along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, leading the
Trump administration to crack down on asylum rules they accused migrants of exploiting and said encouraged them to make the dangerous journey to the U.S.
Trump pressured Mexico into deploying its National Guard in June to the country's northern and southern borders to stop migrants from reaching the United States. Border Patrol officials credit this with having an immediate impact on the border.
His administration then expanded a policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols or "Remain in Mexico," whereby U.S. officials have returned about 60,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico to await the outcome of their asylum proceedings.
In a tweet following his meeting with Nicholls on Thursday, Cuccinelli boasted about the administration's success in dealing with mass arrival of families that prompted the emergency declaration.
"To be clear, it’s bc we’ve virtually eliminated 'catch and release,'" he said, referring to the practice where immigration and border officials would release migrants to the custody of relatives already living in the United States while they waited for their asylum proceedings, a process which can take years.
That practice has been greatly reduced for Central American families, but is still ongoing for Mexican families and migrants from outside the Western Hemisphere such as Asia or Africa.
As the number of migrant apprehensions decreased in Yuma, the Salvation Army closed its emergency operations at the end of October. They estimated they spent about $400,000 to care for migrants during a seven month period.
Currently, migrants that Border Patrol agents apprehend in the Yuma area are either processed and bused 50 miles away to Calexico, to be sent back to Mexicali under "Remain in Mexico," or they are bused and released in Phoenix or Tucson and given a notice to appear in court at a later date.