Yuma mayor and county supervisor speak on the end of Title 42
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls speaks on the end of Title 42 during a live interview with anchors of KPHO.
"In the last month, we've gone from about 300 a day to probably...today, we're going to crest a thousand, probably about 1,200 people, is the early guess because we've had quite a bit of activity this morning. So, that's what we're seeing here at the border in the Yuma sector. But really, the end result is how much does Border Patrol have to release to the local NGOs, and can they handle that level. So, that's the concern we have," Nicholls expressed.
During the interview, Nicholls touched what the city's plans will be once Title 42 ends.
"We're preparing by advocating. Earlier this week, I was with the governor, talking about resources that we could need, we might need, how that could play out. We've done the same thing with our federal partners. And then locally, we've just been coordinating and looking at options because frankly, the size of this and the duration is unknown, and it's very difficult to plan anything with those kind of parameters," Nicholls detailed.
County Supervisor Jonathan Lines also shared the county's plans once Title 42 ends.
"We've had a set of exercises with state, local and federal officials to determine the best course of action. It's difficult to plan for this type of a surge when the unknown is exactly what you're dealing with. You're not sure how many people are going to actually show up and how fast they'll be able to be transported out of the community to transportation in higher density areas like Phoenix, San Diego, where transportation is more plentiful. The challenges that we have here on the ground in Yuma, Arizona are a lack of transportation. We appreciate AZDEMA stepping up, working in conjunction with Governor Hobbs to relieve some of the pressure that we feel in these small rural communities," Lines described.
