Arizona state leaders weigh in on emergency declaration

Arizona state leaders weighed in on the emergency declaration Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls signed Tuesday.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s spokesperson explained they will review the emergency declaration once they receive it.

“We will review any declaration once we receive it. Ultimately, this humanitarian crisis is the result of Congress’ failure to act. It will only be solved by Congress actually doing something, and the governor has vocally urged Congress to quit playing politics and take action. In the wake of their inaction, our office is working with local governments, non-profits and our federal partners to maximize available resources and ensure proper coordination between ICE officials and groups providing temporary services to migrants,” said Patrick Ptak, spokesman for the Governor’s office.

Arizona state representatives Tim Dunn (R-13), Joanne Osborne (R-13), and State Senator Sine Kerr (R-13) all backed the measure taken by Mayor Nicholls.

Representative Osborn called the declaration unfortunate but necessary.

“The federal government has created a humanitarian crisis that has put both border communities and migrants in a terrible situation. I applaud the community of Yuma for doing everything they can to address this crisis, and I urge the federal government to secure the border and provide border communities with sufficient judges to handle the influx of asylum seekers,” said Rep. Osborne.

Representative Dunn said the declaration comes after the federal government’s failure to secure the border and called it a humanitarian crisis.

“The Department of Justice should immediately provide judges to accurately determine who is deserving of asylum. The current message to the world is that if you illegally cross our border, you can stay. This is a message that Americans do not tolerate. The local non-profit organizations are overburdened, and we need resources from the federal government to assist in this federally created crisis,” said Rep. Dunn.

Senator Kerr called on the federal government to provide resources to the Yuma community.

“Yuma has had a history of success in border management when Operation Streamline was fully funded. Given adequate federal resources, Yuma has proven that it knows what it takes to secure the border. I call on Congress to provide Yuma and other border communities with the adequate federal resources necessary to cope with this crisis. Border communities should not have to shoulder this burden alone, as it is a federal responsibility to effectively manage our immigration and asylum process,” Sen. Kerr.

Mayor Nicholls signed the emergency declaration once the migrant shelter reached capacity. He told News 11 in a one-on-one interview Monday that the shelter was already at capacity.

Inside the emergency declaration, was a request for aid and relief:

“…Do hereby declare an emergency does exist due to the mass release of migrant families in the City of Yuma community; that the City of Yuma is, or will be, entitled to aid, relief, and assistance; and to the extent necessary for emergency functions.”