Migrant crossings slow in January

An expansion of Title 42 could give local Border Patrol agents relief

YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - Illegal crossing numbers in Yuma are low this month, but a busy December could put apprehensions at a record pace.

Yuma sits at just over 80,000 apprehensions through three months of the new fiscal year and is on pace to break last year’s local record.

Apprehensions are up 7% compared to last year.

In the new year numbers are decreasing, as Yuma’s acting Border Patrol Chief said in the second week of January, 2,500 migrants crossed into Yuma.

Migrants, like Renzo Montuvar.

“I came here looking for a job, in my country there is no work,” Montuvar said.

The lower numbers follow the Biden Administration’s expansion of Title 42.

Now Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Haitians are subject to rapid expulsions into Mexico.

But for migrants not from Title 42 eligible countries, Yuma remains a popular place for them to cross into the U.S.

“I asked how to cross, and we found a person. They guided us here and that’s why we’re taking this path,” Montuvar said.

Up at the gaps in the wall near the Morelos dam, construction crews and equipment are in the area, but no barriers have been put up yet.