Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before U.S Senators

Senator Kyrsten Sinema was among those in attendance, as she asked the Secretary of Homeland Security about what the Biden administration will do for local communities like Somerton - 13 On Your Side's Luis Lopez reports

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - With the potential end of Title 42 approaching, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testified before U.S. Senators on Wednesday.

U.S Senators asking for a more detailed plan from the Biden administration, as Title 42’s potential end comes in less than 20 days.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema voiced her concerns regarding local communities in the Desert Southwest.

“Now Title 42 is not, and should not be a permanent solution, but chaos in Arizona communities and threats to migrant safety are not viable alternatives,” Sinema said.

Among those communities are Somerton, which she says is paying the price for the high number of people coming in.

“For example a small town in southern Arizona, Somerton, has spent tens of thousands of dollars to respond to emergency calls on the border in recent months, there’s no expectation of reimbursement by the federal government for the cost to Somerton,” Sinema said.

Mayorkas responded by saying there’s a greater need for legislation to fix the issue, and also referred to the emergency food and shelter program which has assisted local communities.

“We are looking at other resource vehicles to assist state and local communities that are taxed by the challenges that we are facing,” Mayorkas said.

To break down how high the crossing numbers have been, the Yuma sector has seen 150,000 apprehensions since last October…

Which is a 600% increase from this time last year.