Mayor Nicholls addresses border trends in area

Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls gave News 11 his input as the surrounding area has seen an influx in the number of illegal border crossings into our communities.

Mayor Nicholls addressed the concern of the unknown as the migrant caravan approaches U.S. border towns, like Yuma.

“So, basically the citizens are just concerned because they don’t know what’s going on. Really, day-to-day life hasn’t changed for us around the community but there is the concern,” said Mayor Nicholls.

Mayor Nicholls said illegal crossing is nothing new for our border community.

“it’s just some of the numbers have increased. So, I don’t really see the level of violence we have seen before the wall was put up in 2005-2006. We really had some real issues there. We worked that out with the Border Patrol as well as local law enforcement as well as the reinforcement of the border,” said Mayor Nicholls. “So what’s happening today is similar in volume to what was happening in volume. It’s a much lower situation where we’re not having the violence and the other associated issues.”

He explained if the migrant caravan makes its way into the Yuma area, law enforcement is prepared and although he cannot release all of their plans, he did share some of the details.

“it’s a lot of non-lethal reaction if there’s some sort of riot type of situation. It’s really mainly about staffing up, about having more people are more resources available to handle the dramatic increase in numbers,” said Mayor Nicholls.

Nicholls also expressed how our community will welcome troops if they arrive.

“They’re going to be doing some work so the best thing we can do is stay out of their way. They’re going to be welcomed like most of the other military is into our community. We’re very pro-military,” said Mayor Nicholls.

He also left the community with a clear message.

“it’s about being diligent but not being fearful. We’re in a position to really have an effective response. I don’t believe there’s a lot of violence to be had. I think it’s more localized and I believe in my near-daily conversations with the Border Patrol, they are prepared and they are doing the appropriate things to be ready for whatever comes our way. From the caravan operations or operations outside of that,” said Mayor Nicholls.