Yuma’s border getting busy ahead of Title 42’s end

Apprehensions rose 50% in the last week of April, as nationwide arrests top 7,000 a day

YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - While the Biden administration was expecting a rise in border crossings after Title 42 ended, there are signs the surge is already here.

Yuma’s chief patrol agent tweeted that in the last week of April, nearly 4,000 migrants were apprehended, a 50 percent jump from the week before.

On Wednesday morning, just two agents are at the border, trying to handle the traffic themselves, but the flow of migrants seems never-ending.

They arrive walking along the wall meant to keep them out of the country, and crossing on the Cocopah Reservation where the border wall ends.

Ray Rodriguez Alfaro is coming all the way from Colombia.

“Now is a bad time in my country, I came to the United States for an opportunity to get ahead,” Rodriguez Alfaro said.

He's also traveling with his wife who is five months pregnant, saying they risked everything to make it to the border.

“The journey was dangerous, there were a lot of people asking for money," Rodriguez Alfaro said. "But, we made it here.”

The couple’s, and their baby’s future are uncertain.

Over 4,000 Colombians who have crossed into Yuma this fiscal year have been deported under Title 42. 

If expelled, they may wait to cross again after the policy is set to expire on May 11.