Continued immigrant influx forces Yuma Sector to expand facilities

Garages converted to holding facilities to house more people - 13 On Your Side's Arlette Yousif reports

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma Sector Border Patrol says it's having to get creative to find space for the thousands of undocumented immigrants agents are processing every day.

Agents say, at any given moment they have an average of 2,000 people within three holding facilities. That's stretching resources.

"When you’re gettin’ 850 to 1,000 a day it becomes a logistical task and just over the last week and a half or so, we’ve switched some of our annexes and our garages," says Yuma Sector Border Patrol Supervisor Vincent Dulesky.

Agent Dulesky says, since Friday, Yuma Sector has already made more than 2,600 apprehensions, including around 35 unaccompanied minors.

Dulesky says that has agents performing duties that lie outside their job description, including child care, and even hospital watch.

"Adjust and be able to get the mission done at the same time. You know, we’re still handling our enforcement mission out on the border and at the same time we’re gettin’ people taken care of in Yuma and that’s what it’s all about," explains Dulesky.

Border Patrol is hiring, but it can't get the agents it needs fast enough to help with the current situation. That's where the Regional Center for Border Health (RCBH) come in. RCBH helps temporarily house the growing number of undocumented immigrants.

"It kind of acts as the release valve and it’s really been a big asset at times when we need it," says Dulesky.

He says Yuma Sector agents routinely encounter travel groups ranging in size from 20 to 160. Dulesky says initially agents saw immigrants from Central America, but now the majority come from Venezuela, Cuba, and Brazil.