Yuma mayor meets with El Salvadoran leaders

At the height of the border crisis, many migrants left El Salvador to apply for asylum in the U.S. Many of those migrants wound up in Yuma.

Now Yuman and El Salvadoran leaders are teaming up to put those refugees to work in the U.S. legally.

“We met with some local leaders, and then we sat down with some agricultural leaders to talk about a H2A program relationship,” Mayor Doug Nicholls, City of Yuma.

The H2A program provides temporary work visas to migrants. The agriculture industry relies on it heavily during the busy winter harvest months.

In fact, Mayor Nicholls said Yuma growers need at least 50,000 workers every year. The new cooperation could help fill those jobs.

” And what the El Salvadorian government is prepared to do to help vet people and then also really focus on making sure that they do return home and that they’re here just to operate the program, ” he says.

The mayor believes the program will help curb illegal immigration by giving migrants a legal means to remain in the country and earn a living.

It’ll also give El Salvadoran leaders time to solve the socio-economic problems that are sending their people north.

” This would help address both of those as far as providing more of a secure environment for their families in their own countries, with some source of income and just help them establish the solidity of their country, ” said Mayor Nicholls.

Nicholls says Yuma’s safety and economic security are his top priorities. But he believes his new relationship with Central American leaders actually benefits people on both sides of the border.

Copyright 2018 KYMA